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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073764">to the bitter end</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/xKweenx/pseuds/xKweenx'>xKweenx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AND I MEAN SLOW WITH EXTRA ANGST, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry Kissing, Angry Sex, Angst, Angst and Humor, Arguments, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Fights, M/M, Multi, Mystery, Naruto is like nah, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sasuke wants to be alone, Slow Build, Slow Burn, So. Many. Arguments</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:02:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>129,697</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30073764</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/xKweenx/pseuds/xKweenx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re pathetic.” Sasuke spat as he began walking away</p><p>Naruto clenched his hands tightly </p><p>“Tell me to leave and I will”</p><p>Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, silence filled the air </p><p>“Pathetic.” Naruto smirked</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gaara/Rock Lee, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nara Shikamaru/Temari, Sai/Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>505</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello my lovely people &amp; welcome to my story! Hope you all have a great time yelling at these two to stop fighting and get together! It’s a blast I promise 😌 Sit back and enjoy the long, spicy, and torturous angst MUAH</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto stood tall as he entered back to the war zone, breathing hard. He turned to look beside him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was doing the same, bringing his arm to wipe away the sweat that had gathered on his brow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They had done it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They had successfully sealed Kaguya.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As destiny would have it, the two followed the roles of their predecessors and ended the ultimate source of conflict </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at his hands, although bruised, the marking of the Sage of the Six Paths had vanished, Sasuke seemed to have picked up the same thing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The war zone had become eerily quiet, as all the ninjas were currently encased in the great tree, trapped in their own little dream world </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We did it…” Naruto breathed out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke remained silent, still trying to steady his breathing </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi was being held up to Sakura, Sakura was still trying to wear off the combined chakra of the two boys. Both stunned to see the war heroes appear out of nowhere</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi looked up at the moon, the crimson sphere has vanished from the sky </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Infinite Tsukuyomi has been undone” Kakashi said quietly. He turned to look at his two students </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knew they had surpassed him well before the war had started, but the power the two currently possessed was godly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hell they had defeated a God</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned to look beside him “Sasuke we did it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked down at his palm again, the marking had disappeared. They must have really sealed away Kaguya and stopped any future prospect of Zetsu from returning </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I supposed we did” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you two okay?” Sakura said as she ran up in between them, doing a visual scan to see if they were alright </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about us Sakura-chan, we’ll manage, just look after Kakashi” Naruto told the girl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure? Sasuke are you al-“ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine” Sasuke said cutting off Sakura </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura gave a small noise at the coldness, typical Sasuke behavior, at least he was here, he was back to her. She had to be thankful for the little things, especially at a time like this. It still felt unreal that after all this time, all that time they searched far and wide...Sasuke was back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took note of Sakura’s reaction and the look of melancholy on her face. Naruto huffed out in anger </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Could you be a little more nice Sasuke, we just saved the world” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke glanced at the figure beside him. He wanted to cleanse this world that was tainted with hate. The hate that had created this forsaken Shinobi world. The same hate that had forced his brother to kill their entire clan. He was willing to do whatever it would take to create a new world, even if that meant dealing with Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still have unfinished business” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto eyebrows furrowed as he glared angrily at Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not actually serious about being Hokage” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke threw a simple glance at Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, don’t give me that </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘rinse the world of hatred’</span>
  </em>
  <span> excuse. Look at what we just did together, we ended the original source of hatred in the Shinobi world, you don’t need to cleanse this world to start over. Look, I get the anger for your clan and Itachi...but that wouldn’t make you any different from Obito or Madara” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have to start from scratch. We just have to break the cycle of hate, we do that by working with what we have and paving a new path” Naruto added</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto is right Sasuke, we just have to be together to make it work” Sakura cried out from the sidelines </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke thought deeply about this. He was so sick and tired of hearing about this cycle of hate and hatred-related view. Hate has been a central part of his life, his hatred for Itachi is was motivated his entire’s life purpose, his hatred toward the village for what they did to his clan, his hatred toward Naruto, hatred is what allowed him to awaken his Sharingan, he’s completely sure that same hatred helped him achieve the Rhinnegan </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All this hatred harbored within him is what pushed him to fight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fight Itachi, fight for his clan, fight in this war </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All he did with his life was hate and fight </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Look where that got him, he went rogue in search of power, he killed Orochimaru, he tried to kill the Kage’s, he became a criminal in the bingo book, he killed Itachi, he killed Danzo, all this was based on hate and fighting that was so engrained in the Shinobi world. Yet after all that, there was one person who had just an awful life as he has but turned out so differently </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He raised his mismatched colored irises to look at blue orbs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto miraculously managed to escape the strong embrace of hate. He never let hate consume him to the point of completely losing himself and letting it blind him to do  indescribable acts </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He hated to admit it….Naruto was speaking with...reason.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He’ll never understand how Naruto was so persistent in his goals and somehow was the more levelheaded of the pair now. Naruto was always so eager to do the right thing, always making sure everyone was okay, choosing peace, and avoiding any unnecessary violence </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was going to become Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke now saw that so much more clearly. Naruto had traveled an equally hard and tiresome path to reach his goal, and he had become powerful enough. He was stronger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was powerful, both in spirit and abilities. He managed to chase after Sasuke for this long with that same unwavering spirit and determination that someone as worthless and so far off into the deep end like him was worth saving. He mastered many different skills and powers, Sasuke couldn’t help but sit with the reality of the situation </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was going to fight you Naruto, just like I always wanted” Sasuke spoke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After all this, you have some nerve to still want to fight Sasuke. All for this goal you have?” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke was tired </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was tired of the hate </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was tired of the fighting </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was tired </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke was just so tired </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke took a step forward in Naruto’s direction </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stood his ground “So you’re fighting” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not going to fight you Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a confused look, what was this sudden switch in attitude from Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said” Sasuke paused as he stood in front of Naruto “I’m not going to fight you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you trying to do here Sasuke?” Naruto snapped in Sasuke’s face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing” Sasuke answered drily</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing? You just show up, say all that mess about becoming Hokage to shape the world, tell me you’re finally gonna fight me...and suddenly it’s nothing” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke kept his firm look at Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took a deep breath, he had been through enough today </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m tired Naruto” Sasuke simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tired? What and you think I’m fucking not?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just tired Naruto. Tired of the fighting and the hate. Look at what it’s done to me Naruto, what it led us to. I wasted my life fueled on anger and trying to reach vengeance, I went rogue and caused so much chaos and anguish. I’m a criminal, went mad with power, a rogue ninja who betrayed his own village…..I’m tired” Sasuke ended </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stared at the raven in front of him, in complete disbelief of what he just heard </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto spent so much time and overcame so many trials for this exact moment. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His driving force was Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To beat Sasuke in the ultimate battle that they were destined to have </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had spent so much time trying to bring Sasuke back to them, back to Sakura, back to him. Now that he was back, even after spiting Naruto every chance he got, Sasuke was suddenly doing nothing </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I went through so much…..” Naruto started, staring even deeper into Sasuke’s mismatched eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just so I could be at your level. Trying to be strong enough to bring you back…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you succeeded” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you planning to do Sasuke?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>TEME</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m serious Naruto” Sasuke said a little loudly from his previous cool tone “We don’t have to fight. I know you are stronger than me, I don’t need a Sharingan or Rinnegan to see that. Why are we going to waste time fighting, you said it yourself if we do that the both of us are going to die. We already wasted so much of our lives fighting each other. For once, you actually spoke with sense. Why would I get in your way of becoming Hokage, as you said it will create more conflict. You are stronger than me Naruto, in so many ways. I believe you are going to change this world and end the cycle. That’s why people place their hope in you, why my own brother saw hope in you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke reached out to grab Naruto’s hand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Naruto managed to get out, still trying to fully absorb Sasuke’s speech </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re going to release everyone, then you can begin a new cycle”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jerked his hand back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You sound...You sound like this is all on me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are the one who was destined to change the Shinobi world, today was the ultimate testament to that. I’m not stupid Naruto, I have my faith in you” Sasuke answered him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s face softened a bit at Sasuke’s words, Sasuke finally recognized him. He recognized Naruto as an equal, well as superior now. He couldn’t believe it, how long he waited to hear that recognition from Sasuke...yet it felt bittersweet to Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about you?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only looked at the blonde for a moment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m a criminal Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have to face my consequences” Sasuke said throwing a glance at Kakashi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi only shifed his eyes downward, understanding Sasuke immediately </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto noticed the exchange of looks and angrily grabbed Sasuke’s top, pulling him back to face him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you implying here? You’re just going to leave again? I spent so much time and went through so much pain trying to get you back. Don’t pull this humble shit and think you can just walk up and leave” Naruto shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never asked you to find me” Sasuke said narrowing his eyes at the blue ones right in front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Naruto tightened his grip on the fabric in anger </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I’m not running away from you or trying to act humble. I can’t just pretend all the terrible things I did can be forgotten because I helped you” Sasuke added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah but Sasuke we’d just still be continuing the cy-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to do this Naruto. I deserve to face the weight of my actions” Sasuke said cutting off the blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto furrowed his brows in even more anger </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not going to lose you again Sasuke, so if I have to fight you, even if you don’t want to, then I will” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pushed Sasuke’s chest back hard, Sasuke stumbled back a bit, but continued to remain still </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I’m simply going along with what you said” Sasuke said “I’m not fighting you, I’m so damn tired of it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave Sasuke another harsh push </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah well if you’re so convinced I’m the one who’ll bring peace, why do you exclude yourself out of this new world?” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you already” Sasuke snapped back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto raised his fist, as much as he didn’t want to, he wasn’t going to let Sasuke slip past him again, especially after everything they went through. How could he become Hokage if he couldn’t save Sasuke? He was going to do whatever it takes, by any means necessary </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto stop” Kakashi called out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto froze mid-swing, he turned to look at his mentor </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke is right” Kakashi said getting up from Sakura’s hold </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No he’s not” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’d be doing the right thing by allowing Sasuke to turn himself in” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a disgusted scoff </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re misreading the situation at hand Naruto. He’ll be under Konoha’s strict surveillance, he’ll be with us. Sasuke isn’t saying he’s going rogue again, he’s doing what he can do to begin his reparations. Even if we don’t take him into custody, who knows what other villages and Shinobi will do. Sasuke is powerful and may have turned his hateful path, but he’s still a wanted criminal” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only looked at Kakashi</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Was this really what they had to do. Sasuke was finally here again and he would be taken away, it didn’t matter if he was going to be back in the village, he would still be gone. But his Sensei was right, as cruel as it was, Sasuke was offering himself up and really wanted to turn away from his dark path he had once most himself in. Naruto knew good and well that the Shinobi world was just beginning to consider Naruto’s peaceful and united beliefs. Did he really go through all this just to see Sasuke behind bars and labeled as just another disgraceful face in a bingo book. He was so hopeful that perhaps one day they would be able to see this new world he envisioned and was determined to create with Sasuke by his side, fighting as partners as they were meant to do </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto briefly glanced at Sakura, she looked miserable but knew this was the best course of action to take. He turned his gaze back to Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke reached his hand out once more and joined it with Naruto’s, beginning to form the hand signs to release everyone from the large tree </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the best for everyone….the best for this new world” Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto mindlessly completely their hand signs, the tree was slowly releasing its prisoners from its branches </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked with huge relief as his family and friends were all seen again, another huge reminder that this war was finally over </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“By the way Naruto” Sasuke said as he began walking towards Kakashi, who was ultimately going to turn him in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto allows himself to look away from the sight before him to look at the walking raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Happy birthday</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“He turned himself in?” Tsunade said as she looked out the window of the Hokage office </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The village was packed as Konoha Shinobi returned from the war. The hospital was busy treating its injured, and everyone was generally trying to recover from the Infinite Tsukuyomi</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had tended to Naruto, their beloved War Hero and strongest Shinobi in existence. He had saved them all, his dreams of both Hokage and peace were well in sight, but it couldn’t be ignored that a huge part of it was due in part to a certain rogue ninja of theirs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He refused to fight Naruto and admitted his crimes” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade picked up the white hat and pushed it towards Kakashi’s chest, Kakashi took it with a raised eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we really doing this again?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I served my time, the village needs a new leader who can better protect them” Tsunade smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Might as well give it to Naruto” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You will, just give him a little more time to prepare himself. I tossed him in the library as soon as I healed him up. He and Kurama are in much better shape” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi gave a light chuckle, there was nothing the two of them could do, Naruto would be Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Congratulations! The sixth Hokage again” Tsunade exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, I’m honored” Kakashi said, a bit of humor making its way into his tone “What are you going to do now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’ll stay helping the medical efforts for Konoha’s Shinobi. Then I’ll see if the other villages need me. What I’m really looking forward to is just traveling the land in search of more medical knowledge and just explore”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“More? You’re already the best” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can’t a lady just travel?” Tsunade teased playfully </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi only chuckled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well as Hokage, you already have your hands full. Especially with…” Tsunade trailed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke” Kakashi finished for her “I’ve put him in our jail, sealed his eyes and body” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you planning on keeping him there?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi let out a quiet sigh “I’m not sure quite honestly, while I was bringing him in we talked about a couple of things”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like what?” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I asked him how he believes he should pay for his crimes. He just said he should be sealed away, from his abilities and people” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade thought to herself for a moment. Sasuke had left the village and went rogue, he betrayed the village and caused mayhem. But he was still a Konoha ninja, he helped end the war, he was the sole motivator for Naruto’s growth in strength. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Speaking of….</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does Naruto know?” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke told him he was going to turn himself in when he refused to fight Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He didn’t fight Naruto?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke finally understood how tiring hate and fighting can be...he was sincere Lady Tsunade, believe me, I know the feeling and so do you” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade absolutely did know the feeling, that even the hardest negative emotions have their limits on people </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can imagine Naruto wasn’t happy, especially after having Sasuke return just to be locked away” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s exactly how he felt. I understand the sentiment, but Sasuke is correct in having to stay away for a little while. Post-war reparations are just beginning and people might still be a little weary to accept Sasuke back, even after his heroic effort” Kakashi explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade remained quiet as she once again looked outside the window </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“However, I was thinking of an alternative that perhaps would work in everyone’s favor, so Sasuke isn’t stuck in that cell forever” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade turned her attention back on the sixth Hokage</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alternative?” Tsunade asked as she raised her eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi nodded as he began to tell the fifth Hokage his proposal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of the many perks that came from his newfound abilities as well as being connected to the raven at such a deep level was that Naruto could sense Sasuke’s chakra. It was so unique that Naruto took it upon himself to memorize it immediately, he never wanted to lose any trace of Sasuke again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Which is why he was currently on his way to the jail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was furious that Sasuke had the nerve to say he was tired of fighting and chose to lock himself away. Naruto could understand that Sasuke didn’t have a great track record right now, but he was finally back home and away from all of them. Nothing changed other than Sasuke was now the other war hero who still was labeled as a traitor to the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>None of this mattered to Naruto, Sasuke was his best friend and teammate. He refused to let Sasuke shut him out again, not after all he’s been through </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He managed to slip away from his Hokage studies and walked to the jail, people worked diligently in rebuilding the village and trying to return to normalcy, occasionally greeting the hero of the war. It still felt a little weird to him quite honestly, how long he craved to be recognized by his own village. Now he was all they ever talked about and were fans of his, it felt strange, a feeling he wasn’t used to just yet </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto entered the jail and gave a quick nod to the guards, they knew what he was here for. As we walked, the presence of Sasuke’s chakra was growing with each step he took. He finally reached the cell that was isolated from the others, he froze slightly at the sight before him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sat on the bed, his eyes covered by a seal along with his hands and body in a similar binding. Sasuke was hunched over in the dark and small cell, it upset Naruto. He knew Sasuke could also sense him, yet he didn’t say anything to the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke?” Naruto called out quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stayed silent, not wanting to encourage Naruto to stay </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a tired sigh “Sasuke I just got out of the hospital to come and see you, don’t stay silent”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That Naruto, always throwing his well-being out the window, especially for Sasuke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should have stayed until you rested up” Sasuke finally spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m a fast healer ya know” Naruto smiled as he patted his chest, a little gesture to recognize his tailed beast </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence returned between them and Naruto cleared his throat a little awkwardly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you eaten?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a curt nod </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you comfortabl-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you here?” Sasuke said as he cut Naruto off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you I’m here to visit you” Naruto replied </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s not much for you to do”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just wanted to see you”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you did, so long”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grumbled as he grabbed a random stool and sat across the cell </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme” Naruto mumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke let out an annoyed sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you even healed up?” Naruto asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Kakashi took me to get my injuries looked at and taken care of, I was fine regardless” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence once again fell between them, Naruto hated having to look at Sasuke through metal bars that separated them. He hated seeing Sasuke completely sealed off from the world, </span>
  <em>
    <span>literally</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke why did you do this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I already told you”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We could have figured something out”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke scoffed “So we were just going to ignore my crimes? And here I thought you were somewhat less naive” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me you’re still stuck on that” Naruto frowned “You were so set on getting your revenge and making sure I was out of your way, and suddenly you turn a new leaf and forget about it all? These were such big goals that you were willing to kill anyone who stood in your way, especially me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right Naruto those were my goals, goals fueled by hate. I accomplished what I believe was my entire life’s purpose and look where that drove me. Down a darker path where I could see nothing but hate and fighting as the only things that comprised the Shinobi world we were born into. But Naruto you finally spoke some sense, why should this cycle of hate continue when it serves no other purpose than to divide and cause wars. We can’t pretend as nothing happened and start with a clean slate, we learned from the mistakes of the past and start from there. I was foolish and blinded by hate to think I could mold this world based on personal beliefs, which is why I realized how tired of it all I was” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto saw Sasuke leaned against the brick wall, despite being completely restricted, Sasuke continued that cool and calm composure Naruto always hated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke I understand that, and I’m glad you were able to finally escape the darkness, but you have to understand what this means to us. W</span>
</p><p><span>e were hurt when you left the village, I’m sure you’re aware of that. How many times we tried to go after you, even though you betrayed us Sasuke and people had their doubts, we still tried to get you back home. </span><em><span>I</span></em> <em><span>tried to get you back home, to Kakashi-Sensai, Sakura, and me.</span></em><span> I worked so damn hard just so I could finally be at your level and you would finally respect me as a notable opponent and old teammate. I never saw you any less than what your worth, I never labeled you the criminal you’re so convinced that you are. I tried to stop people from going after you like the Kages were, I…” Naruto looked down to the floor and lowered his voice “</span><em><span>I took a beating defending you and I had my first and only panic worrying about you so much…..</span></em><span>” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke swallowed hard and tightened his fist as best he could on his bound hands. He never imagined the amount of trouble and pain Naruto went through for him. He’s told him countless times and is still confused as to why Naruto held on to Sasuke, how he never deemed him like the scum that he was. It honestly made him angry, angry at the people who took their hate for Sasuke on Naruto, angry at Naruto for enduring it and still being as persistent, especially angry at himself for being a major factor of Naruto’s hardship. It was for reasons like these that Sasuke had given up further confrontation, and he wished Naruto would understand why this was the right thing to do, for everyone, for the both of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry” Sasuke said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked into the dark cell</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re sorry?” Naruto repeated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For everything you went through because of me. Everything I did to you and the village. The damaged I caused” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great, apology accepted, now get out this cage and make it up to me by joining us again” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto how many times do I have to tell you I can’t do that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said you were sorry right? Let us just spend some damn time with you after being gone for so long. I miss you Sasuke, we all do. Now you’re just as gone as you were when you first left” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was glad the cell was dark, he couldn’t see the effect Naruto’s words had on him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry is the best thing I can do to atone right now” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Atonement? Sasuke stop talking like that and just stop with all this, we can talk about something more reasonable if you’re so keen on facing what you did” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto please...</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was shaken by the tone of Sasuke’s voice, it sounded like he was being so sincere, he could swear Sasuke was almost pleading </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Understand I’m doing the best thing for me and everyone. Respect my choice” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Sasuke can you understand and respect where I’m coming from. You’re my best friend, I finally have you back and you’re as good as gone all over again” Naruto pushed again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As your best friend I’m doing the right thing. You don’t have to suffer because of me anymore. I’m here and we’re not fighting, you have what you want. But I refuse to let you ignore my actions over your personal feelings. You shouldn’t put your life on hold for me again, after all, you are going to be Hokage. Surely you want to do the right thing” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess” Naruto said, his shoulders dropping slightly as he looked away again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then go prepare yourself and tend to the village, that should be your ultimate priority from now on dobe, you got that?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Naruto said, despite Sasuke not being able to see the weak smile Naruto tried to give him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned to look down the dark row of cells, he saw the guards were far enough to not see them clearly, trying to give them as much privacy as they could despite the orders to constantly watch over the Uchiha. Naruto stuck his arm through the gaps of the cell and laid it on Sasuke shoulder, Sasuke jerked slightly at the unexpected touch </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay strong Sasuke, I’ll come back to see you again” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You just don’t listen” Sasuke sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, take care okay? So long” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You too” Sasuke responded, returning his head downward </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave Sasuke one last look, frowning that he wasn’t able to break Sasuke away from this nonsense, but he made his way out. Sasuke and his chakra just barely out of his reach again </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Damnnnn Sasuke do be moody tho, anyways so yeah I’m watching Attack on Titans right….but I’m not crying….so why is everyone else??? It must be the manga cuz I’m just not seeing what yall seeing…oh well ill prolly cry later, I stand by Eren IDGAF 🔫 COMMENT AND KUDOS &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Hokage? I didn’t see that being your kind of thing” Sasuke spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Neither did I quite honestly, but here I am. At least my carving looks good” Kakashi joked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you here?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What, I'm not allowed to visit my student and top criminal?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been having a lot of visitors with that same reasoning” Sasuke sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, you caught me. I’m here to talk to you about something” Kakashi said. He signaled for the guards to open the cell so he could walk in, bringing with him a small lantern to light up the darkened space. He pulled the random stool from outside with him and sat down across from Sasuke, although it wasn’t very far given the small cell. He set the lantern on the floor and leaned forward</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to release your eye seal” Kakashi warned as he formed his hand signs, Sasuke nodded as he felt that blindfold being lifted off his face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke opened his eyes slowly, trying to get used to seeing light again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look at those eyes, quite the rare combination” Kakashi said as he looked at them clearly and closely again since they were last on the battlefield </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blinked a little more, his eyes adjusting to the light </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “They came at a great cost” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That they did” Kakashi said “Now enough reminiscing, let’s get down to the matter at hand” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Which is?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you remember how you said you wanted to pay for your crimes?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said by atoning as best I could by being far from everyone and causing no trouble” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi nodded at the younger boy “Which I agree with, also I wish to respect and honor the genuineness you have for making up for your past actions. But as Hokage, I’m giving you a new, let’s see what shall we call it?.... </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ah yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a new sentence” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’s this coming from?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I figured there isn’t no real good coming from keeping you locked up in here. So I managed to come up with a new sentence that will push you to the path of atonement while still supporting your cause” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But why? I’m a traitor to the village, you don’t have to give me any special treatment” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t ignore the things you did Sasuke, however, I also won’t ignore your contributions to ending the war and finally realizing the path of hate and battle is pointless and tiresome. I just want to do the reasonable thing in this situation, and ultimately it’ll do you some good too” Kakashi reasoned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only looked at his former Sensei, still unsure about the whole ordeal, he allowed his silence to signal to Kakashi to continue </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“While we were looking for you, we managed to uncover an old hideout just outside Konoha’s forest that used to belong to Orochimaru. It’s still quite hidden and at the perfect location, it’s far enough from Konoha to avoid being spotted, but still within contact range. Its location is also a good midpoint between some neighboring villages and residents” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright?” Sasuke said, not yet getting Kakashi’s plan </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the perfect place to put you, for the time being, you can reside in the hideout and travel around assisting people and other atonement duties you must carry out. Again, you’ll be away from us and manage to spend time by yourself” Kakashi explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke closed his eyes as he thought about this deeply, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for Sasuke to atone all alone, he would be away but not gone. And it would just be him, he could reflect on so many things and not cause any more trouble with his presence</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does anyone else know about this hideout?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just Lady Tsunade and I” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would just help out wherever his travels led him to yet still had a home base with that hideout, it must be good if it was Orochimaru’s and was only just now discovered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What would I have to do” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing, this is your new punishment and is for your benefit” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just ask you to promise me one thing” Kakashi said, staring intensely at Sasuke </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That this is really your atonement, this is a testament to your change” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I promise you.” Sasuke said seriously, his own look intense on Kakashi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi took a few more moments to look at the powerful boy in front of him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s settled then, let’s get you out of here so you can pack for your journey. I managed to stock the hideout with about two months works of supplies to get you started” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You already had it ready? Why’d you bother to ask me then” Sasuke said as he raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I knew you were going to say yes. However, I wanted to see the validity in your words” Kakashi smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only let out a huff a breath, his Sensei was still as sharp as ever </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No one besides me is to know of this ordeal” Kakashi ordered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Understood” Sasuke nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi did a quick hand signal to undo the seal on his body</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get you ready” Kakashi said as they walked out the seal, Sasuke was brushed with a little excitement that he would finally pay for his actions the way he saw appropriate</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>**************** </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked over the water on the bridge, a family of frogs hopping across lily pads. Naruto smiled at the sight, he enjoyed the small tranquility it brought him underneath the night sky. He had spent the whole day helping the village with post-war efforts. He had spent a good portion of his morning with Sakura, she had gone to go visit the jail but was met with the same coldness Naruto got when talking to Sasuke. Sometimes he really hated that part of Sasuke that remains unchanged. He had also been subject to Lady Tsunade’s constant pestering for him to take it easy and come to the hospital for daily checkups</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“She can’t still think you are weak” Karuma had said </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“She just cares too much, just your normal grandma” Naruto had told the fox inside their domain, although he was quickly brought back out when the Fifth Hokage stuck a thermometer in his mouth </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was glad to see the good people of the Hidden Leaf village were starting to settle down again and return to their normal lives. There was a change in the air, Naruto could feel it. He was glad he was able to be a reason for that change, and would also make sure he brought the change to see success, he had to, it was to honor all the faith people had put him to get him this far and achieve this goal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked back to the view of the calm stream of water. This bridge held special memories to Naruto, the most prominent one being this is where team 7 first met up with Kakashi-sensei. Who would have known the trials they would go through as time would come. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto suddenly felt something was wrong</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt something get</span>
  <em>
    <span>….weak….farther </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It was Sasuke</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto knew this was Sasuke’s chakra, but why did it feel like it was suddenly beginning to fade away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto rushed off the bridge to run in the direction where the chakra slowly began to build again. Why did he sense it beginning to lessen in the first place? Especially this late at night? What was Sasuke doing, he was supposed to be in jail. He zig-zagged through the villages, as he got closer to the chakra it also felt like it was continuing to go farther away. Naruto was suddenly filled with worry, as he ran faster, the thought of Sasuke being caught up in something filling him with worry. He ran and suddenly found himself standing in front of the gate to Konoha, he saw two hooded figures walking to it directly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, who are you guys?” Naruto said loudly at the intruders </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two figures stopped walking, and the taller figure let out a sigh. That same figure turned around to him, Naruto instantly went into a fighting stance but relaxed once when he saw the figure push down his hood</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto said in pure confusion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, you’re still awake this late at night?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, what are you doing? Who is that?” Naruto asked as he craned his head around the older man </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just a visitor I’m escorting out” Kakashi answered “Nothing more than Hokage duties” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto suddenly sensed that familiar chakra again, much more prominent now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke?” Naruto spoke to the figure, now the other figured sighed but refused to turn around </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto you really shouldn’t concern yourself with this” Kakashi told the blonde, however, Naruto pushed past the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke what are you doing?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like Kakashi said, it’s none of your business” Sasuke spoke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It looks like your leaving again? The same way you did the first time” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke closed his eyes, Naruto’s words had struck a nerve, a wound that was still very much fresh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like that Naruto” Sasuke said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can’t even face me to say that!” Naruto shouted angrily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke slowly pushed his hood down and turned to face Naruto, blue orbs meeting purple and black ones</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like that.” Sasuke repeated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, but why? Why are you doing this again?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you to stop worrying about me” Sasuke snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How can I not? We finally have you back, and now you’re actually leaving again. You didn’t even have the nerve to let me know” Naruto snapped back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only stared at the boy, even if he could, Sasuke wouldn’t tell Naruto for this exact reason. This wasn’t like when he left as a child, he wasn’t gone for good, he’d still have a presence in the village given his communication with Kakashi. He just needed to be away, and by not telling Naruto, he was making sure he wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore, that he could finally let him be and Naruto could focus on his own goals. However, here he was causing him the same distress he was hoping to avoid </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This was my doing Naruto” Kakashi interjected as he stepped in between the two boys  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto snapped his look to the Hokage, a look of shock, anger, and confusion all present on the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re making him do this?” Naruto said in disbelief </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s not making me do anything Naruto, I want to do this. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do this” Sasuke said as he cut off Kakashi</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke why the hell can’t you give this up? You already paid for your mistakes, you helped end the war and gave up your path of darkness. You’ve changed Sasuke you don’t need to keep running away from us!” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could ask you the same thing, I told you to focus on yourself and quit worrying about me” Sasuke said just as strongly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How can I focus on myself when I failed to bring you back” </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t fail, I’m here” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re leaving again!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto...” Sasuke sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose “You know what you’re right, the least I can do is be honest” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi only glanced at the Uchiha, he quickly figured Sasuke wanted to avoid any further confrontation with Naruto, he was probably still feeling guilt from making Naruto go through so much over him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m leaving on an atonement journey” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Atonement journey?” Naruto repeated in confusion once again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You remember how I asked you to respect my wishes, this is one of them. Believe me Naruto, by going away on this journey on my own...this is how I will repay for all my crimes” Sasuke finally explained</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto just blinked at the raven, this was so much for him to take in. Sasuke was so set on repenting for his sins that he was going on some sort of self-discovery journey </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you going to be doing? For how long?” Naruto asked as he had millions of questions running through his mind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It would be better if you didn’t know those things” Sasuke said a little more quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at Kakashi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto this was the best course of action to take for Sasuke, it’s what he wants and we have to respect that. He won’t be gone, he’ll just be away” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the same damn thing! Sasuke just tell me you’re not seriously leaving the village again?” Naruto’s big blue orbs peered into mismatched ones “After everything that’s happened” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wanted to look away, for both of their sakes but he couldn’t. He was hurting Naruto again, why couldn’t he stop</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I’m not leaving forever, this is my atonement” Sasuke said sternly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s gaze never faltered from Sasuke, as much as it pained him, Sasuke was set and serious. Naruto was beginning to feel that tiredness Sasuke kept talking about, he really didn’t want to let Sasuke out of his sight, after going through so much to bring him home. But if Sasuke insisted this was what he really wanted, and Kakashi-sensei was so sure this was the right thing to do, could he really fight against this?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is this really what you want?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sighed “....I wish you the best on your journey” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was stunned at the sudden acceptance from Naruto, but he immediately recognized the look Naruto had on, the look of realizing you were tired</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll write back to you and Kakashi, try not to be too much of an idiot and not become Hokage” Sasuke tossed, trying to lift the blonde up, refusing to leave him with that same pain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You better” Naruto smiled weakly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We should get going Sasuke” Kakashi spoke “I’ll be back Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke…” Naruto called out, the raven looked at him “Stay safe” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a short nod and began walking away from Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto felt the sensory of Sasuke’s chakra grow weaker and weaker with every step, Sasuke never looked back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even though this time Naruto knew and saw Sasuke leaving, it somehow hurt worse than the first time he left unannounced </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>SASUKE FREE...kinda. BUT YALL I GOT MY STIMMY CHECK🤪 WHERE WE EATING TONIGHT?????</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto walked towards the Hokage’s office, he had been called for yet another mission. Normally he wouldn’t mind, he loved missions and after all, they weren’t too much of a hassle anymore. Given his new power levels and the fact that they were mainly just to tie up the loose ends of the war. Naruto also has been out of it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s been 3 weeks since Sasuke left the village for his redemptive journey </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Not that Naruto was counting or anything</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As much as it still pained him to no longer sense that familiar chakra, he understood that this was what Sasuke wanted, as much as he hated the thought of Sasuke being alone and sad</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He always imagined the day he brought Sasuke back home, they would be inseparable. They would make up for all the lost time they had, which included becoming even stronger and closer through all the missions they were going to take together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He entered Hokage’s office, a familiar head of white hair greeted him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How was Hokage studying?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Boringgg</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto sighed dramatically </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Think of it as training, you’re-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah, I’m training my mind” Naruto finished for him, he’s heard so many people tell him that same phrase </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi chuckled “Well I have another mission for you today, mind helping me out?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah of course, what is it?” Naruto said walking closer to the Hokage’s desk </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just need you to check on this village on the outskirts of town, east of the woods. The Hidden Mist and Leaf Village sent some supplies to help start-up efforts, just make sure they got properly delivered and help out wherever you can. Think you can manage?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I feel like I’m working overtime nowadays” Naruto teased </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How will you ever become Hokage?” Kakashi teased back, earning a laugh from the blonde boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I got it handled, sounds like a quick one. Although the outskirts east of the village is definitely a day trip worth of travel. I should be back late tomorrow” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds great, get to it then” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto did a little salute and ran out the door </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi only waited until the door to shut close. He put the piles of papers he had in his hand on the table and let out a deep sigh, being Hokage was sure a tiring duty. He heard a slight tap on his window, he turned to look and recognized it to be Sasuke’s messenger bird. Kakashi got up to open the window and grabbed the little piece of paper that was attached to its feet. He sent the bird off and began to read the normally short messages Sasuke would send </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Back at the hideout - S </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s eyes grew wide</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had told him he was off in some distant village and would be away from the hideout for at least two weeks, but apparently, he had returned sooner than expected. Kakashi shouldn’t be too surprised, Sasuke was someone who also gained a tremendous amount of power now, whatever the Uchiha was doing, he was surely going to do it more quickly and effectively</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem for Kakashi, especially since the hideout was a good distance from the village</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, he just sent the future Hokage in the same direction as Sasuke’s hideout. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Where Sasuke currently was</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Quite honestly, Kakashi was still unsure regarding the abilities of both Naruto and Sasuke. He knew the two were interconnected in so many more levels now, and he had a hunch that it included a new chakra connection, but he wasn’t too sure</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi sat back down in his chair and let out a sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No, it was still a great distance between the two ninjas, he just had to reluctantly bet on that slim chance that they would miss each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He hoped</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>**************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto leaped through the trees, his backpack hitting his back slightly with every landing on a tree branch. The village had proven to be quite the distance as it had taken him the entire day yesterday to get there. The supplies the two villages had given to the small town proved to be sufficient, Naruto even helped with the reparations of some buildings that had taken a hit during the war. He had spent the day talking to many people, who all thanked him for his heroic actions. That part still was all very new to Naruto. He had enough time to go around eating local delicacies and spent a comfortable night at the local inn. After he made sure the village was fine with all their supplies, Naruto took off back to his own village. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was about mid-afternoon as Naruto jumped through the forest, he enjoyed the scenery he first saw on the first half of his journey. The day was warm and sunny, and Naruto felt calm as he heard the sounds of nature </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he jumped his stomach growled, he slowly came to a stop and found a sturdy branch to land on. The last time he ate was at breakfast </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was so long ago, definitely lunchtime” Naruto said out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He plopped down on the branch and swung his legs over so they could dangle freely. He shrugged off his backpack and instantly took a sip of his water from his sac. Naruto then went to pull out his lunch pack, it was onigiris, veggies, and some sweet dumplings. Naruto quickly gave thanks for his meal and went right in to devour. Although he was never one to be picky about food, he was in quite the mood for ramen. He figured he would work up an appetite again by the time he got back to Konoha, he decided Ichiraku’s was going to be his first place to stop once he got back into the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto enjoyed the calm and quiet moment to himself, he can’t remember the last time he had the chance to just be alone and just sit down like this. For as long as he remembered, Naruto had constantly been working to get stronger, it was everything he thought of for a while. It was nice to just go out on a simple mission like this where he could make sure people were safe and enjoy a nice meal in the beautiful scenery that was the forest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as Naruto finished his lunch and threw the lunch box back in his bag, he slung it over his shoulders. He quickly got up to his feet and was about to start the remainder of the journey home again. As he was about to jump, Naruto sensed something</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And it was something he’s never sensed before </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This was chakra </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Or at least he thought it was, it was a strange thing he was currently sensing </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It felt familiar yet so weird, as if it was something Naruto had sensed before but it was covered in something </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt the weird chakra grow when he jumped in the direction he just came in. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, he took another leap, the sense of this chakra grew stronger</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By no means was Naruto a skilled or expert sensory ninja, but his ability to sense and recognize chakras was sharpened given his own increase in chakra and power levels. He would be able to at least point out something about new chakras, but the one he was currently sensing was so distinct in nature, but yet it felt as if he knew it. This was too strange for Naruto’s liking </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He began to leap back, completely opposite of the path he was supposed to be taking to go back home, he was determined to find out where this chakra was coming from. He jumped on branches, the air hitting him as he lept quick through the forest. As he ventured forward the feeling of this chakra was beginning to get stronger and stronger, meaning he was close to the source. Naruto prepared himself for whatever he was about to encounter, something with this strange of nature chakra was bound to be something serious. After a few minutes of traveling back, the sensation of the unusual chakra was prominent, he felt as if it was right in front of him. He came to a sudden halt, he scoped out the scene around him, both in the trees and down below. He skillfully leaped off the branch and landed perfectly, pulling out his kunai knife. Naruto once again scanned the area, he didn’t see any looming or hidden figures, but he could still feel the strong sense of that chakra. He began to walk through the grounds of the forest, trying to find who was responsible for this strange chakra. As he walked, Naruto heard a rustle in the bushes, he threw the kunai knife in the direction of the movement, it went through the leaves and hit the tree trunk. Naruto ran to where he threw the weapon, once he got there, he saw a bunny who was absolutely knocked over by fright. Naruto instantly pulled the kunai knife back from the tree and tucked it away, he knelt down to grab the scared brown bunny </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heh, sorry little one. I was just caught up in the moment” Naruto laughed nervously as he gathered the little ball of fur in his arms. He reached in his backpack to pull out a carrot stick he had leftover from his lunch and fed it to the shaking bunny. The bunny hesitated at first, thinking Naruto was still trying to lure it to capture him. Once the little animal trusted Naruto enough, it took the carrot stick and began munching on it. Naruto smiled and laughed in delight, he really didn’t mean any harm </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey maybe you can help me out” Naruto spoke to the bunny, call him crazy but he was willing to use all the help he could get in this desolate forest </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bunny seemed to scrunch its noise in agreement</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you seen anyone strange here?” Naruto asked it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bunny leaped out of Naruto’s arms and began to hop away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey wait! I said I was sorry for almost killing ya” Naruto said as he began to chase after the woodland creature. However, Naruto came to a sudden halt when the bunny stopped hopping. The blonde turned his head to the side in confusion at the little thing’s actions, noticing that it started hopping again and stopped to look back at Naruto. He realized the bunny must have wanted it to follow him, so he nodded and began to run after it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bunny led Naruto through the forest until they reached a specific spot of flowers. The bunny sniffed them and looked up at Naruto, Naruto crouched down to look at the flowers. The buds were closed and were just surrounded by grey rocks. Nothing particularly stood out as suspicious, but he definitely felt the strange chakra as loud as a bell</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure this is the spot?” Naruto asked the bunny, still a little confused as these random and plain pieces of nature seemed to omit this strange chakra that was so new yet so familiar </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bunny seemed to wiggle its nose at the blonde, Naruto once again reached in his bag to pull out a carrot stick to give it to the bunny as a token of his gratitude. The little bunny took it and hopped back into the leaves </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto focused his attention back on the flowers and rocks, he definitely sensed the chakra now, as clear as day. But there was nothing in front of him but closed flowers, nothing more than wilting buds surrounded by grey rocks. How in the world were plain-looking plants and rocks omitting such powerful and strange chakra. This was something he needed to bring back to the village to get looked at, surely Kakashi or Grandma Tsunade would be able to figure something out. Naruto picked a flower and picked up a rock and tossed them in his backpack, the sensory effect of the chakra from those two items still giving Naruto these mixed and strange feelings. Once he gave a final visual sweep of the area, he jumped back to the tree branches and began his journey back to the Hidden Leaf Village</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he kept from branches to branches, his newly gained hunger and the weird feeling he got from the chakra were all he could think of </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He sensed something </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A new chakra</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And he knew perfectly well that this chakra belong to a particular person </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked down below the trees</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SASUKE?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Completely caught off guard by the sudden chakra, Naruto jumped face-first into a tree trunk, his head colliding with the hard wood with a large and painful thump. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was walking to his hideout when he suddenly heard his name yelled out. He looked up and suddenly saw a body falling down from the sky. He quickly ran forward with his arms out, ready to catch the person. Once he did, he looked down to look at the person, eyes growing wide at the sight of who it was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto's eyes were closed as blood began dripping from under his headband.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, are you okay?” Sasuke asked again, gently shaking the unconscious blonde in his arms. Naruto was unresponsive </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke didn’t pack any medical supplies for this last trip he was coming from, and he knew it usually took a short while before Naruto’s healing powers kicked in. As much as he wanted to figure out how the hell Naruto managed to show up, despite being unconscious and hurt, he couldn’t show him his hideout. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he couldn’t just leave him like this either </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed in frustration as he began to run to his hideout, carrying the blonde in his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even if he was gone again, Naruto managed to reach him once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yet, Sasuke couldn’t find it in himself to ignore the blonde </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Now let’s not act like Naruto wasn’t gonna find his lil boo💅🏻 BUT GUYS OMG OMG JUSTICE LEAGUE IS OUT AHHH IM A HUGE COMIC GEEK AND IVE WAITED FOR THIS, imma watch it Saturday tho cuz ion got no time 🥴 I also got new glasses cuz my eyesight is bad, but I look like a damn librarian, how imma be a bad bitch now 😔COMMENT &amp; KUDOS BABES MUAH &lt;333</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto slowly opened his eyes, blinking slowly as his eyes were exposed to low lighting. He noticed his mind was a little fuzzy, and he was laying on something.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Since when did the forest have soft beds? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes shot fully opened </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got up but groaned at his head and vision grew groggy at the sudden quick movements</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easy dobe” He heard a voice call out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto placed a hand over his head, he felt his headband had gone missing, but in its place were bandages </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What hadn't gone missing was the familiar chakra he sensed before he blacked out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke?” Naruto called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly a figure appeared before him, holding a cup out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stared at it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s tea” Sasuke said, Naruto slowly reached his hand out to grab the cup, taking a slow sip</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sat at the edge of the bed “I could ask you the same. You literally just fell from the sky” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All I remember is I was on my way to the village, but I sensed your chakra and I think I ran into a tree” Naruto tried to remember </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked at the blonde for a while and pinched the bridge of his nose </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You idiot”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey! I wasn’t exactly expecting you ya know” Naruto snapped “Where are we anyway?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had decided he wouldn’t lie to Naruto, even Naruto was smart enough to figure out this is where Sasuke was serving his time </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My hideout” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took a good look at his surroundings, the hideout appeared to be underground, and it looked like he was in the room where Sasuke slept. Nothing more than a bed and desk was in this room, little light from candles on the wall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is where you're serving your sentence?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Occasionally, yes” Sasuke said “The important thing is are you okay? You need to go home now” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait I just got here, you’ve been gone for three weeks without a word and you’re not even gonna let me see you for five minutes” Naruto frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Technically you’ve been knocked out for an hour, that’s more than enough time” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme! Can you at least tell me what you’ve been up to? I need to know you’re safe” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine” Sasuke stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“....that’s it?” </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke thought about this. This whole atonement was for his own reasons, it was for him only, he didn’t want Naruto to worry about him anymore. Even if he did tell him, they would just end up arguing about it as they’ve been doing. Still, Naruto managed to find him and his hideout, knowing the persistent blonde, he would go out of his way to eventually uncover his punishment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I tell you. Under one condition” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have to promise not to tell anyone and never return back here” Sasuke deadpanned</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a shocked noise “What? No way, it was just my luck that I was able to find you. I already told you I’m not losing you again. I let you leave for your secret journey, but destiny seemed to bring us together again! I can promise I won’t tell anyone, this is still your personal punishment journey or whatever you call it. But I’m not going to let you go, especially now that I know exactly where you are this time” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke closed his eyes, he let out a deep sigh. Naruto might have called it destiny. But Sasuke blamed his bad luck for letting Naruto find him yet again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, I’ll take your words” Sasuke said as he rolled his eyes when Naruto laughed in triumph</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Unlike </span>
  <em>
    <span>some</span>
  </em>
  <span> people, Kakashi understood my wishes for my punishment, how I wanted to be alone and atone for my actions in a way only I could. So he arranged for me to stay in this old hideout that used to belong to Orochimaru” Sasuke paused as he noticed Naruto narrowed his eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Relax, he’s got nothing to do with this or me. Anyways, this hideout is pretty far out from the village, but its distance also allows me to keep in contact with Kakashi” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded at the new information “So what do you do?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, often I’m off in other lands or villages helping people who require my services. Other times I suppose I just wander and think” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto wanted to ask what he thinks about, but he should be grateful that Sasuke was already being this open and honest with him. He shouldn’t pry </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took another look around the room they were in “It definitely matches your personality” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gee thanks.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you’re in the clear for communication, why haven’t you sent me anything. You promised” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked down at the floor, he was hoping the blonde would have forgotten. He really wanted Naruto to focus on himself, he needed to stop worrying about Sasuke so much. Sasuke was trying so hard to remove any trace he had in his village for his atonement purposes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t been gone that long. Besides, I doubt you’d be interested in anything I was doing, nothing was worth writing” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe me, after having you gone for that long. I’d take anything” Naruto joked, although that comment just proved to Sasuke how right he was about wanting to keep a distance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tell me the last thing you did, it’s the least you can do to make up for the lost time and almost killing me” Naruto crossed his arm </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bashing your face into a tree is all you, speaking of let me check your bandage” Sasuke said as he reached out to touch the bandages, Naruto slapped his hand away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t try changing the subject!” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not changing the subject, you just mentioned your injury. Now hold still so I can check your bandages” Sasuke said as he tried to touch the wraps, Naruto resisted his grab </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay Still!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, you’re just trying to avoid my question!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you I’m not, now let me just check!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here you go, always trying to stay a mystery and never let anyone in, I literally had to force you to reveal why you’re out here, now you won’t even tell me what you do! It’s not like I’m asking you to tell me your whole life story, just tell me abo-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke grabbed both of Naruto’s wrists and brought the blonde close to him, closing the small distance between their faces and pressed his lips against Naruto’s. Naruto’s eyes grew extremely wide, his body freezing from shock. Sasuke slowly pulled away, a small blush adorning his face, he quickly took advantage of Naruto’s paralyzed state and reached out to touch the white wraps. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto blinked rapidly as he tried to figure out what the hell the raven just did, his face immediately turning red at the realization that Sasuke had kissed him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, there were other ways to do that” Naruto said, still completely red </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah well you wouldn’t stop talking or moving” Sasuke grumbled as he removed the bandages from the blonde’s head. Once they were off, dried blood was seen behind the bandages, but the tan forehead barred no marking of a bruise or scar, his healing must have taken over while he was asleep Sasuke thought to himself</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto angrily glared at the raven, his hand reaching up to rub his forehead “Hey where’s my headband” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke got up from the bed to go pick up something that was on the desk, Naruto quickly realized it was his backpack </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I put it in here, some of the stuff in your bag fell out so I put it back in with your headband” Sasuke said as he handed the bag to Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took the bag and dug inside, he pulled out his headband and tied it back around his head. Suddenly he remembered the other important item that he had inside, it looked like they weren’t in here. He looked with much more intensity now, dumping everything out on the bed and his lap</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Missing something?” Sasuke asked as he observed that blonde’s panicked searching </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it’s a flower and rock. I found them while I was going back home...wait you said stuff fell out my backpack right?” Sasuke nodded at Naruto’s question “Then it must be out this hideout” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto shot up from the bed, but as he did he immediately began to sway, his mind was still hazy. Sasuke hurried to Naruto’s side to steady him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said easy remember, just because the bruise is healed doesn’t mean your mind is” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto waved him off, he gained his balance and mind again and moved from Sasuke’s hold “I need your help to find it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s so special about it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was emitting this strange chakra”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Strange how?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was really weird. These two random things had huge chakra levels, I sensed them so quickly. But I also sensed that it felt almost familiar, I don’t know how but it just did...but it was new too” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That does sound strange” Sasuke said at the blonde’s explanation </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly, I was planning on bringing it back to show Kakashi and Grandma Tsunade, maybe they could help in figuring out what it was” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose we could take a look back outside” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great! Let’s go” and with that, Naruto slung his bag over his shoulders and ran out of the room</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto do you know where the exit is?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ran back into the room and gave an embarrassed smile </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Usuratonkachi” Sasuke sighed as he pushed past the blonde, leading the two of them through the hideout. Naruto looked around as they walked, the underground hideout was lit by torches on the wall, they passed what appeared to be a kitchen area, an abandoned lab, and other closed doors. Naruto finally saw the stairs that led to outside, once they reached the top Naruto noticed how it was already sunset, he wondered if Kakashi was suspicious about his late arrival </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s gonna be a little hard to look with the light now” Naruto said as he walked to where he had hit the tree </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke activated his Sharingan paired with his Rhinnegan and began to look around </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did it look like?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was just a plain-looking grey rock, and the flower was green and wilted with the bud closed” Naruto described </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure that chakra you’re talking about it came from those two items?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I’m sure, I sensed it and the bunny told me that was it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The bunny?” Sasuke asked with a raise of his eyebrow, extremely confused at what Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! It was a whole group of em too, but I just picked up a rock and flower. They both were giving off enough and the same chakra” Naruto said as he walked into some bushes to search</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment of searching, Naruto walked back to Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you find anything?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, were you able to sense it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No...which is weird. For something that was giving off that level of chakra and suddenly is gone is strange” Naruto said as he looked around once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t recall seeing or sensing anything like that when I grabbed your bag, I’m sorry if I caused any trouble” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto put a hand on the raven’s shoulder “Don’t worry about it, it probably fell out when I was in the trees. I guess I should go back and see if I can find more” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s getting late, you should probably go before Kakashi starts to worry” Sasuke said as he looked at the setting sun </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess, but this seemed really important” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just give me the coordinates, I’ll check for myself and let you know” Sasuke offered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’ll finally write you something so you’ll stop bitching about it” Sasuke teased</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, you never even told me about your day. Trying to change the subject and stuff” Naruto said as he blushed at the memory </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke scoffed as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand “If you weren’t so difficult I wouldn’t have to resort to that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was not being difficult, as always you’re trying to be closed off!” Naruto said as he lightly shoved Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re here aren’t you? And you know what I do. What more do you need?” Sasuke rolled his eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever, just do me the favor and write me” Naruto huffed out, Sasuke nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto lept up into the branches and looked as the sun had fully set, stars decorated the sky </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks again for taking care of me” Naruto called out below him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kinda owe it to you dont you think?” Sasuke smirked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess you do, stay safe Sasuke. Your hideout and journey are safe with me, I promise” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I trust you, get back to the village safe” Sasuke said as he began walking back to his hideout</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure you won’t come back to the village?” Naruto tried once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shook his head, Naruto sighed, his hope going down yet again to </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to make his way back to the village, it was kind of disappointing to lose the rock and flower, but he could count on Sasuke to get it for him. At least he got to see where the raven was cooped up and what he was doing, even if that met he had to have the unfortunate third kiss, Naruto was still embarrassed his kisses all were with Sasuke, that bastard...</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Alright babes… we really gonna start now🤪 Yall I almost fought someone because they stepped on my NEW Air Max 97s, the lord testing me bruhhhh🙂  COMMENT &amp; KUDOS</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>By the time Naruto reached the village, the sun had long disappeared from the sky. The only source of light was coming from the moon above. He walked through the gates, greeting the guards as he did with a small wave. Naruto saw the streets were relatively empty, he did come much later than expected. The journey itself was a long one in general but given his little run-in with a grumpy Uchiha, he was held back. He didn’t even want to think about Sasuke too much, as he was still a little annoyed that Sasuke told him not to come back or he wasn’t even thinking of coming back to the village, it still struck Naruto down every time </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although that may have brought Naruto down, his mind drifted to another moment he had with the Uchiha. He kissed him, for the third time. Naruto did not know what possessed Sasuke to kiss him, they were in yet another heated argument, and then Sasuke kissed him. He was mad that it managed to shut him up for a bit, but he was also mad that he kinda…</span>
  <em>
    <span>.didn’t hate it.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He knew Sasuke was on a more peaceful path or whatever, but that was completely out of character for the raven, and Naruto allowed it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What happened to them….what pushed them to reach that level of anger?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Whatever, Naruto really didn’t want to think about this anymore, it was just dumb anger caused by dumb Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he walked through the village, Naruto enjoyed the peace that was felt in the quiet village, it really was beginning to feel like things were back to normal after the war. He passed Ichiraku’s Ramen shop, it was closed and Naruto’s stomach grumbled in disappointment. Naruto groaned, at least he was stocked up with Instant Ramen back home, even though it didn’t come close to his favorite ramen shop. His hungry thoughts were quickly interrupted as he reached the Hokage building, remembering why he was here. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto knocked on the Hokage’s door, once he heard his permission to enter Naruto twisted the doorknob to open. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re back later than expected” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I ran into a couple of things….</span>
  <em>
    <span>literally</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the blonde, requiring a little more information </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“First of all the mission went well, the village seemed to be in good shape. I helped around with the restoration efforts and the supplies our village sent seemed to be enough to keep them strong for a couple of months” Naruto reported </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s always good to hear” Kakashi nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then on my way back, I sensed the strangest form of chakra. It was new and really strong, but it also felt familiar. Believe me, I know it doesn’t make sense but that’s the best way I can explain it” </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“A new chakra? How strong was it?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really strong, I felt it instantly” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised his hand to his chin as he thought, this chakra truly must have been strange and strong if even Naruto was able to be caught off guard by it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you manage to locate it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, with a little help from a bunny. Don’t ask” Naruto said as he received the same confused face Sasuke gave him when he mentioned that detail </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways it led me to this area of rocks and flowers. It made sense because as we got closer to the site, the power of the chakra increased. And when we finally got there, the chakra of these rocks and flowers was crazy. This enormous level of chakra was coming from plain grey rocks and closed wilted flowers” Naruto explained</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That does sound strange, I imagine you brought a sample back” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I did! Except….” Naruto trailed off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Except?” Kakashi pushed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Heh</span>
  </em>
  <span>, funny thing..” Naruto laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head “I ran into a tree” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi gave Naruto a look of pure disappointment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t my fault! Not only were my senses and mind distracted by that weird chakra as I was making my way back here, I suddenly sensed Sasuke’s chakra too” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh, Naruto crossed paths with Sasuke. Just his luck, however, he was expecting the worse </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you found Sasuke?” Kakashi sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes and I-, wait a minute, you said that like you were expecting it” Naruto said as he raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose I was” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WHAT? HOW?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well Sasuke wrote to me that he was back at his hideout. Unfortunately, his return was much earlier than anticipated, as your mission would lead you to pass where the hideout was”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not only did you not tell me where Sasuke was even though I would be so close to it, but the bastard wrote to you and not me” Naruto said as he crossed his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi chuckled “Well that’s not entirely true, in fact, this just came in a few minutes ago from his messenger bird” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi reached into his desk and pulled out a mini scroll paper that was tied up, he tossed it to Naruto, who caught it instantly and went to work to open it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Dobe,</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>There was nothing there, I checked the entire proximity -S</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a small smile, Sasuke had actually written him back, much faster than he expected, he tucked the note in his pocket. He didn’t think he bitched </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> much, who cared about whatever Sasuke said anyways, he was still mad at Sasuke. His mind went on to focus on the next part, </span>
  <em>
    <span>the flowers and rock were gone from the spot where he had found them? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well what does it say?” Kakashi inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me finish the story first, like I said I was caught off guard by Sasuke’s chakra, so I jumped into a tree. I blacked out but Sasuke took me to his hideout to patch me up, then I managed to get him to tell me what he was doing out there” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised his eyebrows in surprise, the raven actually told Naruto what he was doing. Kakashi’s best guess as to why Sasuke actually told Naruto was to prevent Naruto from worrying about Sasuke even more, still, it came as a shock to the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then after he uh checked my bruised and I healed” Naruto said as he tried to control his face from getting red, remember that embarrassing kiss they shared “I told him about the rock and flower and how it was missing from my bag. We went to go look for it outside but it was gone. I think it must have fallen out of my bag as I jumped through the trees. Anyways, I wanted to go back to the spot and see if I could find more but Sasuke insisted I come back here. So he said he would check it himself and get back to me. According to this letter, nothing was there, which is strange... ” Naruto finished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Hokage took this new information and thought about it carefully, he believed the war hero, knowing Naruto wouldn’t bring this up if he didn’t think this was something worth looking into deeply. But according to both the blonde and the raven, they had mysteriously gone missing. They didn’t have much to go on, but they definitely shouldn’t ignore this completely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Based on your story they definitely sound like interesting pieces that hold this immense chakra. And you said they just disappeared, and their chakra nature felt familiar yet brand new?” Kakashi asked again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded “That’s the best I can say to describe it, and I’m sure if Sasuke found it he would say the same thing. But it’s gone, something emitting those levels of chakra suddenly gone without a trace is definitely suspicious...that’s why I brought it in the first place, I was hoping you or Grandma Tsunade could take a look at it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yet Sasuke reported that all traces of it seem to have vanished” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Apparently” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi leaned back on his chair “I’m sure if Sasuke comes across it again, he’ll let us know immediately” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh great, it’ll probably be another year before Sasuke writes to me again” Naruto huffed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop whining, he wrote to you like he said he would. Might I say, I’m surprised he actually took you to his hideout and let you in on what he’s doing” Kakashi added</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess, I’m still not convinced about this whole atonement journey or whatever, I tried to get him to come back to the village and he refused! Can you believe that Sensei?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto you know this is Sasuke’s choice, and for the benefit of everyone” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You guys keep saying that, but what about us? Kakashi-Sensei you know more than anyone how long we went after Sasuke, and now that we have him back we’re just letting him go back to face the weight of his actions all alone!” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi heard Naruto’s words loud and clear, he knew the feeling, he really did. However, he didn’t know why Naruto couldn’t understand Sasuke’s reasoning for wanting to embark on this atonement journey. A huge part of his reasoning for Sasuke’s leaving was for Naruto’s sake, but as always, the blonde never put himself in the front of others in any situation </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll understand one day Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto furrowed his brows at that comment “Anyways after he told me that, he also wanted me to promise him I wouldn’t tell anyone or come back” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Understandably so” Kakashi nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, not understandably so! I won’t tell anyone his personal business, absolutely. But I finally found him again, I can’t just ignore that or him. Especially after what happened” Naruto argued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes Kakashi really found Naruto’s staunch personality really annoying, he let out another deep sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You managed to find him and not kill each other, I’ll count that as growth. Alright, Naruto you can stay in contact with Sasuke, </span>
  <em>
    <span>however that may be</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I just caution you that this is still Sasuke’s punishment and personal atonement journey, don’t ruin it or let it be revealed” Kakashi spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled as he shook his head</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great work on the mission and we’ll make sure to keep an eye out on the chakra situation. Go home and rest, you earned it and it’s really late”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to tell me twice, I’ll see ya around!” Naruto waved to the Hokage as he made his way to his home</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi ran his hands over his face, it appeared as destiny brought these two boys together once again. Kakashi just couldn’t figure out why destiny didn’t make these boys realize that everything they did was for each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Naruto ran through the halls of the Hokage’s building his almost ran into something again, although this time he managed to stop himself before he could collide </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, my bad” Naruto apologized to the figure, although he quickly recognized it “Sakura-chan?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh hey Naruto, and no worries you’re fine” The pink-haired girl smiled at him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here, it’s really late” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was just picking up some medical files, but I got distracted” Sakura said as she held the files close to her chest </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Distracted?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura sighed as her smile faltered a bit “I was just thinking about him again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto immediately knew who she was talking about, although he wondered if she knew</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I was remembering the last conversation we had, although it was short, you know how he is” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a breath in laughter “What’d you guys talk about?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He told me he was going away, but that’s about it. It’s been about three weeks now since I last saw him” Sakura said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto touched the note that was folded in his pocket, a little guilt hitting him at her words. He knew how much Sakura cared about Sasuke, he could only imagine the pain she was going through of having witness Sasuke leave without a word for a second time. Meanwhile, Naruto had argued and annoyed his way into finding the raven and had revealed to him the raven’s agenda. Even if he wanted to tell Sakura about Sasuke’s whereabouts, he couldn’t, he swore his secrecy to both Sasuke and Kakashi. He still felt bad and selfish for having this information hidden from one of the other people who deserve to know most, especially since Sakura went through similar trials and emotions that came from Sasuke’s first abandonment of the village, </span>
  <em>
    <span>another reason why he has to come back </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, I guess things don’t change. I feel ya, I’m having the same thoughts too” Naruto lied, still feeling guilty </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that’s him alright. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He told me he would fine while he was gone, and I believe him” Sakura said, trying to reassure them both </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled down at the pink hair girl, he always admired how strong she stayed, especially when it came to matters about Sasuke. He wished he could tell her that he was alright, it wasn’t fair that he was able to contact Sasuke now, but he had little choice in the matter, he wasn’t even supposed to know in the first place </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right, thanks Sakura. I always appreciate your kind words” Naruto said, the grin returning to Sakura’s face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I walk you home, it’s really late” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That won’t be necessary. I’m pulling an allnighter with the Hokage in sorting out the shinobi’s medical records for those injured” Sakura said, shoulders dropping slightly at what she was about to go through “In fact, what are you doing here this late?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just came back from a mission so I had to brief Kakashi-Sensei” Naruto answered, hoping she wouldn’t pry for more information or find the time of his return suspicious </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I understand, well since you’re here you should help us ou-” Sakura was cut off as a wind suddenly blew on her, the files she had in her hand blowing to her face. She turned to see Naruto running right past her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sakura yelled </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yuhhhh they can keep seeing each other 😌 rn I'm just building the plot and setting up the main arc y'all, I promise y'all gonna see more actions between our boys ;))) BUT I HAVE SO MUCH STUFF TO TELL YALL </p><p>1.) So I read the AOT manga cuz y'all had me scared......damn that's crazyyyyyy. I didn't cry because frfr I'm not surprised but...damn idk how to feel about Eren now....and LEVIIII🥺<br/>2.) I WATCHED JUSTICE LEAGUE AND THAT SHIT WAS IMMACULATEEEE<br/>3.) I watched Yuri On Ice too, very gay🤝</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS MUAH MUAH</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The blonde looked down from the tree he was perched on, </span>
  <em>
    <span>he definitely felt his chakra </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jumped down, a shuriken was flying right at him, he caught it easily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Teme!</span>
  </em>
  <span> What was that for?” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here Naruto” Sasuke said, his back to the blonde as he sat on the ground, the sound of metal being scraped filled the air </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just came to visit and I wanted to talk to you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you not to come back here” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We both know I can’t do that” Naruto said as he sat beside the raven “What are you doing anyways?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you have to know every little thing I do?” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe if you actually talked to people, they wouldn’t have to ask you” Naruto threw back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rolled his eyes “I’m just sharpening my sword” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fun” Naruto said as he looked at the raven’s movements for a while, he laid down against the grass and looked up at the sky. The sun was shining and a warm breeze blew gently, the calm and serene sounds of nature were heard. It felt good, it had been ages since Naruto was last with Sasuke in a calm setting such as this one. Doing nothing but settling with their environment and being in each other’s company </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You had something you wanted to talk to me about?” Sasuke said as he put his sword back in its sheath </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did, I was wondering if there was anything that could bring you back to the village for good?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed “Naruto, I’m done having this conversation with you. I already sa-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just answer the question” Naruto said, cutting off the raven off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only looked at Naruto through the corner of his eye, trying to figure out what exactly the blonde was trying to get at </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned his head to look at Sasuke better</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura misses you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hm</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A lot ya know” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She has no reason to, I told her I was leaving” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not enough, she’s been in so much pain ever since you left. Now she saw you leave again and she’s probably going through it again” Naruto frowned “And it’s not fair that I know where you are and she doesn’t, she deserves to know too” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You weren’t supposed to know that, I told you both the same thing. You’re just a persistent little dobe who doesn’t listen” Sasuke huffed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s more than that! She really cares about you and all you do is hurt her” Naruto said, although he regretted it when he saw Sasuke’s face briefly show signs of guilt </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess I do, imagine how she would feel if I didn’t tell her anything” Sasuke said quietly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s basically the same thing as telling her nothing. I lied to her and said I didn’t know anything about where you were. It’s just not fair Sasuke! You know what her feelings are towards you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like I said, you weren’t supposed to find out where I was” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But her fee-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never told her to have feelings towards me” Sasuke said pointedly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You really need to come back Sasuke, you’ve just been gone for so long” Naruto sighed, really upset over the fact that Sasuke’s cold composure still has yet to fade away completely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke turned slightly to face the laying blonde, he flicked the area between those bright blue eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ow</span>
  </em>
  <span>, what was that for? Naruto whined as he rubbed the spot where he had been hit </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t listen, I already told you this...</span>
  <em>
    <span>multiple times</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least you wrote, you managed to keep one promise” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you I would, and here you are breaking the promise you made me. Some best friend you are” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not my fault I ran into you!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You mean ran into the tree?” Sasuke smirked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto crossed his arms with a huff and looked back at the sky, although he was being made fun of, it was nice to see Sasuke in a playful mood, it’s been years since they jabbed at each other like this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah” Naruto muttered “Speaking of writing, you really didn’t find anything at the site?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it was empty. Didn’t sense chakra or see any unsuspecting rocks or flowers” Sasuke told the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I told Kakashi-Sensei, he said we should keep an eye out just in case we sense it again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You told Kakashi you saw me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah so?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He didn’t say anything?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not really, other than to stay quiet about it all” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed, of course his former teacher would allow Naruto to continue this, then again, could anyone truly stop Naruto once he had his mind set on something </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t break this promise ya know” Naruto teased </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll believe it when you actually start listening to people” Sasuke teased back, he almost enjoyed the laugh Naruto gave him in response </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They settled into a comfortable silence, Naruto laid on the soft grass enjoying the sun as Sasuke sat beside him, watching the small river that was a little further ahead of them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m surprised to see you outside, as pale as you are” Naruto spoke up again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even I get tired of being cooped up inside and in the dark, besides I just came back from somewhere and I wanted to sharpen my sword while the sun was still up” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’d you come from?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can call it a mission” Sasuke tried to explain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’d you do?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gee honey I’d love to tell you about my day, want me to make you lunch while we’re at it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not opposed to it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke chuckled as he tried to flick Naruto head again, Naruto lazily pushing Sasuke’s hand away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was just a small village not too far from here, they needed help with a new protection system after their wall was crushed during the war” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds great” Naruto replied </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was, it felt...nostalgic to do that sort of stuff again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You could come back to the village where we could do those kinds of missions all the time together again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll pass” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about you, how’s becoming Hokage going?’ Sasuke asked the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hardddd” Naruto sighed dramatically </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t say?” Sasuke said, sarcasm coating every word </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All I do is spend my time in the library reading and studying” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The village’s biggest dobe wants to become Hokage, they’re just trying to work with what they got” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya gonna spend the whole day picking on me” Naruto muttered under his breath </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just making up for lost time” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a small smile from where he laid, he closed his eyes as memories of his childhood with Sasuke played through his mind. He was so glad he had Sasuke back like this, when they weren’t trying to kill each other, it actually felt as if things never changed. It was almost a little funny how they were able to go back to their old habits </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just like old times” Naruto said out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke turned his gaze downward, the guilt was still a fresh wound. He wondered if they would have been even greater friends if he stayed around, like he said, he wanted this distance so they wouldn’t think about the past and what-ifs of his mistakes. However, he wasn’t particularly against him and Naruto being together like this again. It was just another wave of nostalgia that Sasuke felt </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Although some things have changed” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke hummed in curiosity at Naruto’s statement </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure Kakashi and Iruka-Sensei have something going on” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke almost choked on his spit, his black and purple eyes growing wide </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke said dumbly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sure of it!” Naruto put a hand on his chin “I walked in on Kakashi holding Iruka’s hand in his” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a hearty laugh, it was the first time he’s done that in a while. This was just so outrageous it was downright hilarious. Naruto kinda liked hearing Sasuke laugh at this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No way” Sasuke said trying to keep himself from laughing more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sat up “I swear it, they both were red in the face. I just walked out and never talked about again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Again, Sasuke laughed at the image of his old teachers being caught in the middle of their little romantic moment by the blonde idiot </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did the impossible, I made Sasuke Uchiha laugh” Naruto grinned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As if, that’s just really funny to picture” Sasuke said as held his sides from laughing “Almost as funny as the image of you running face-first into a tree” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey! Stop picking on me” Naruto whined, making Sasuke laugh once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two sat now shoulder to shoulder, both of their gazes fixed on the rivers. They both could feel that their friendship was starting to run smoothly again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their attention was caught when they both noticed a messenger bird fly above them, Sasuke held his arm out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s Kakashi-Sensei’s messenger bird” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe it’s him calling you back since your not supposed to be here” Sasuke said as he took the piece of paper that was wrapped in the bird’s leg, ignoring the scowl Naruto gave him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How’d he know I’d be here? I didn’t even tell him” Naruto thought out loud, missing the look Sasuke threw at him for doubting Kakashi’s intelligence </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bird flew away and Sasuke unrolled the paper, Naruto hovering over Sasuke’s shoulder to read it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Naruto and Sasuke, </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>The Kazekage has requested Naruto’s help to come to the Hidden Sand Village to discuss a recent attack he experienced. He also wanted Lee to come along, I’ve arranged for Lee to meet Naruto at the Sand Village. Sasuke I advise you to keep a distance</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>-HK </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gara faced an attack?” Naruto said, slightly shocked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“An attack? This fresh from war…” Sasuke wondered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What was the attack?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s not going to say the specifics in a letter, it’s too risky” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need a reason, if Gara was attacked we need to go help and make sure everything is okay” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sprang to his feet, although Sasuke remained seated, Naruto made a confused noise </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You saw the letter, Gara requested you and Kakashi said I should keep a distance” Sasuke said as he handed the note to Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke you can come along too, I need your help” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure you do Naruto” Sasuke said he let out a breath of laughter </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m serious Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So am I” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This could be valuable to you too. And by keeping a distance, I’m sure Kakashi-sensei meant just be hidden” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto for some reason you forget the whole reason I’m out here. I’m a criminal. I tried to kill all the Kage’s remember, I made Gara go against his personal feelings and made him attack me. And Lee will be there, I’m sure he’s still dealing with the war and his own thoughts about me. I’m here to be away from people Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t do this right now Sasuke.” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you just listen to me for </span>
  <em>
    <span>once?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke said coldly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would if you weren’t always talking nonsense!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the truth, why do you have to be so persistent about me. You found me and you’re spending time with me. Why the hell do you need to drag me on your little adventures now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t some damn adventure, Gara’s our friend and he needs our help” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Your</span>
  </em>
  <span> friend” Sasuke snapped back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke you know Gara has let everything that’s happened go. You don’t think he acknowledges that you were the reason we were able to end the war?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was you too” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could use your help” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are way stronger than me Naruto. And you’ll already have Lee there to help you out with anything you need” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled much louder, he shoved both of his arms under Sasuke’s and hoisted him up, forcing the blonde to stand. Sasuke shoved him off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sasuke said angrily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop with the damn self-deprecating stuff. You want to keep atoning? Fine, consider this part of your atonement journey” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t make the decision for me” Sasuke said with growing anger </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto got closer to Sasuke’s face, angry blue orbs never leaving mismatched one </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m just talking to an idiot who won’t listen</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto repeated Sasuke’s words owly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke peered down into those blue eyes in anger, Sasuke was getting real sick of Naruto always forcing himself in what he thought is best for Sasuke. As much as his short-temper was being forced to come out, he was tired of fighting, especially with this annoying blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke used his shoulder to harshly push Naruto away as he walked away from him. He secured his sword on his back and pulled over the hood of his cloak to cover his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, I’ll help you on your mission. Maybe this way you’ll actually learn some boundaries and leave me alone” Sasuke said, knowing perfectly well that Naruto would take offense at these words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto scoffed but began to walk towards the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I stay in the shadows. You don’t acknowledge me and I don’t acknowledge you. Got it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” Naruto said, pissed at the raven’s behavior. Looking at the bright side, as he always did to keep his cool with the Uchiha, he got Sasuke to go along with a mission of his</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know Miss Lana Del Rey problematic rn but y’all listen to her new album??? I did and I wasn’t feeling it frfr idk if that’s just me tho…Also I feel like I be talking about myself too much on here😭 Even though I like to tell y’all what I’m up to, I’d love to hear what yall be doing, I promise im not scary, Im just goofy asf💀 WE GANG HERE BABES🔫♥️🤝 COMMENT &amp; KUDOS &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The two boys kept leaping through the trees</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How much longer Sasuke?” Naruto called in front of him “It’s almost sundown”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked up at the sky, it was beginning to turn dark. He stopped on a branch, the blonde stopping right next to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even though the hideout gave us a headstart, we still have quite the land to cover before we get there” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto then turned to look below them “This seems like a good place to set up camp” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded and the two jumped down from the branch. They had been traveling for a good amount of time, packing as quickly as they could for their long journey Kakashi had dispatched them on </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well get to it” Sasuke said as he began walking away from their designated resting spot for the night </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You expect me to set up camp all by myself?” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes” Sasuke replied dryly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s bad enough you made me pack everything, now you’re making me do this?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re the one who was so keen on going on this mission and forcing me to come. Where’s that same enthusiasm?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Teme</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Usuratonkachi</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto muttered under his breath as he began to unpack the contents of their bag. Sasuke on the other hand, went out to do a quick scope out just to make sure they weren’t being watched or followed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As much as Sasuke really didn’t want to go on this mission, it was suspicious that the Kazekage faced an attack. The war was fairly recent, even Sasuke could tell that the world was beginning to settle into some sort of peace. And why specifically the Kazekage? What did Gara do to receive such an attack? And what about Lee? He could understand why he wanted Naruto to come but specifically requesting Lee was odd. This wasn’t supposed to be his concern anyway, he was only here because he refused to fight that idiot blonde again, and hopefully, he’d leave him alone for good after having gone on a mission together again. Sasuke could still remember how Gara cried when he had to confront Sasuke, another guilty deed he was responsible for that made Sasuke want to repent and stay away from people. Maybe Naruto had a good reason again, he supposed he could atone for the crime against Gara from the shadows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After doing a detailed lookout search, Sasuke saw no threats around them. By the time he finished, the sky had completely changed its color to darkness, the moon shining his path back to Naruto. Once he arrived at his site, he found Naruto messing with something. Sasuke walked closer </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Trying to start a fire” Naruto said in frustration </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t look like you’re trying very hard” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then how about you do it!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke did his quick hand signs “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fireball Jutsu</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blew through his fingers and flames appeared before them, the fire pit Naruto was working desperately trying to lit set ablaze for an hour was lit in seconds. Naruto blinked at the raging fire in front of him, and if he didn’t know better, he’d say Sasuke almost has a smug look on his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I really hate you” was all Naruto simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I finished the lookout search, we should be good for the night” Sasuke reported </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good to hear, I’m starving” Naruto said as he reached into one of their bags</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’d you pack?” Sasuke asked as he sat on the same log Naruto was on </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Onigiri!” Naruto smiled as he handed one to Sasuke, Sasuke looked at it carefully before taking it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You took this from my hideout didn’t you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well where else was I supposed to get it from, we were on a time crunch” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You could have asked me before you stole from my own supplies” Sasuke threw, Naruto just waved him off before he began to devour his dinner </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they ate, Naruto began to tell him about the </span>
  <em>
    <span>horrors</span>
  </em>
  <span> of Hokage studying, and Sasuke tried to drown as much of his complaining as he could while he ate his own food. Suddenly, something caught Sasuke’s attention as he saw it in the corner of his eyes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto?” Sasuke said, cutting off the blonde from whatever he was in the middle of talking </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why is there only one tent set up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a nervous laugh “Funny story....and I mean really funny…It turns out I only brought one tent” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blinked at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Funny right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke slapped Naruto’s head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You idiot” Sasuke scowled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Owwww</span>
  </em>
  <span>, like I said we were tight on time. I was rushing and I must have not noticed that I only packed one!” Naruto said as he rubbed the spot on his head Sasuke hit </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke let a loud sigh out, Naruto really didn’t change, no matter how strong or mature he may seem now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the night continued and they finished their meals, they decided to call it a day, Naruto blew out the fire so they wouldn’t disclose their location. Sasuke let Naruto enter the tent first, once he followed he sighed again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you only packed one blanket” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was in a rush!” Naruto cried out again, collapsing on the said blanket and laying his head on his bag, refusing to listen to Sasuke scold him any more</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only shook his head as he took off his hood and laid down, laying his head on his own bag and using his cloak as his blanket. He was pretty tired, he had just come back from his own mission earlier that day, then his peace was disturbed when Naruto unexpectedly dropped by and brought him along for this long travel</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can share the blanket ya know?” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine” Sasuke said, thrown off guard that Naruto would offer that </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It going to get really cold” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said I’m fine” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, just come here” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Having thought this conversation was done, Sasuke closed his eyes and prepared to go to sleep </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly he felt himself being tugged against a body, a blanket instantly being tossed over him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke gritted out as he struggled against Naruto’s tight grip </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight Sasuke!” Naruto said, ignoring Sasuke’s movements. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment of struggling more, Sasuke realized Naruto wouldn’t let go. He was getting really sick of Naruto forcing him to do stuff just because he thinks it’s for Sasuke’s benefit. Reluctantly, Sasuke settled under the blanket and in’s Naruto arms, which were really warm </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you so hot?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto blushed, eyes shooting wide open “</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your body, it’s like a radiator” Sasuke said as he tried pushing Naruto off him again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh” Naruto cleared his throat, having misunderstood Sasuke’s statement. Now he was even redder and warmer due to being flustered “Sorry” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto released his hold on Sasuke, scooting over a little to put some space between. Although he was still embarrassed, he was kinda relieved to find that Sasuke didn’t move from under the blanket and was off to sleep rather quickly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>******************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke felt hot again, he tried to move but was restricted. His eyes shot open, thinking he was facing a threat. Although he wasn’t facing a threat, he was facing someone’s chest. At least he thought it was a chest, his line of vision was currently being obstructed as his face was pressed against a chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke tried to move as best he could, although he quickly found himself in an iron grip</span>
  <em>
    <span>...just like last night….from Naruto </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s mismatched eyes shot open as he now forcefully grabbed Naruto’s arms off him, sitting up quickly and moving to the other side of the tent. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This seemed to stir Naruto awake from his slumber, the blonde groaned as his sleep was disturbed. The blonde sat up slowly, yawning as he stretched, his eyes eventually met a wide-eyed raven who sat all the way on the opposite side of the tent. However, another detail about Sasuke that caught his attention was the strange markings on his face. Naruto reached his hand out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah Sasuke, you have these weird indents on your face” Naruto said, his tan fingers stroking the pale skin that was marked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s pale soon began tinted with pink at the sensation of Naruto’s touching his cheek</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait a minute, these markings look familiar” Naruto looked down at his own mesh shirt, the diamonds matching the indents on Sasuke’s face perfectly. Sasuke seemed to follow Naruto’s eyes and made the discovery, blushing even more he slapped Naruto’s hand away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gross,</span>
  </em>
  <span> were you cuddling me?” Naruto shuddered as he rubbed his pained hand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You were the one that held me in your arms, look at what you did to my face!” Sasuke snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now it was Naruto who turned red “I-It wasn’t like that! I was asleep and I must have…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two feel in awkward silence, blushing at the fact that they had indeed cuddled in their sleep </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We never talk about this again.” Sasuke said in a low tone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Agreed.” Naruto grumbled in embarrassment</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the two properly woke up, Sasuke forced Naruto to pack everything up again, Naruto complained the whole time. Once they were finished, they began their long journey to reach the Sand Village. After a while of traveling, they had finally reached their destination and observed the sandy landscape. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to make his way to the main entrance of the village but paused as he noticed the raven wasn’t following, Naruto threw Sasuke a confused glance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m keeping a distance remember, go on ahead without me. I’ll be near, you can still sense me right?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I can”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, then you’ll know I’m there” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded, making a beeline for the entrance. As he walked into the village, he was glad to see that the villagers here were also making a good transition back to normal life after the war. Naruto walked into the Kazekage’s building, greeting Kankuro who gladly lead him to his brother’s office </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto-kun, at last you have arrived from your journey!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Lee! Did you just get here too?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did, as soon as I received the request from the Kazekage, I instantly started my travels and made my way here as fast as I could” Lee explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto wondered why Gara had also asked for Lee to tag along, but he just shrugged it off as it really wasn’t his place to ask about the Kazekage’s decision. He knew more than anyone that Rock Lee was no ordinary shinobi, anything he was perhaps weak in, he made up for ten times over with his mastery of taijutsu. He also knew Gara was well aware of Lee’s strength after beating way back when they were taking their Chunin exams. Well for whatever reason Lee was here, he knew he was great shinobi to have nearby. have Naruto then turned to the man in question and smiled, stretching his hand out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gara!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Always good to see you Naruto” Gara smiled as he shook the tan hand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I rushed over here as soon as I got your message to Kakashi” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I as well Gara” Lee added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you did. Please sit” Gara instructed as he sat behind his desk. The two shinobi followed suit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a quick check to see if he could sense Sasuke’s chakra</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He could </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That meant the raven was somewhere near, yet hidden </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned his attention back to the young Kage</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As I detailed in the message, I recently found myself in an attack” Gara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay Gara? Did you undergo a traumatic injury” Lee fired off </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gara, I assure you I’m fine. I ju-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can only imagine the emotional distress. I am so sorry I was not there in order to assist you in this attack!” Gara cried out, cutting Gara off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee, really, if you would let me explain-” Although the red-head was once again short of his words as the bowl cut bot continued his dramatic worried cries </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geez Lee just let Gara talk, what are you his boyfriend or something?” Naruto teased, a little annoyed Lee wouldn’t let Gara explain himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes Naruto that is correct!” Lee answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto fell out of the chair </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto?” Lee asked as he peered over to the shocked blonde on the floor. The blonde got back up and sat down, confusion and shock written all over there face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“YOU GUYS ARE DATING?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We are…” Gara said, his face burning slightly from embarrassment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And we are very happy together, I am so sure that the power of youth flows throughout our affections” Lee smiled warmly at Gara, Gara giving Lee a genuine smile back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, this is still very new and we meant to let people know in a much more appropriate situation” Gara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was absolutely speechless, these two being a couple was absolutely something he did not see coming. He knew he was a little slow to catch up on these type of things, but this was just so surprising</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well...congrats I guess?” Naruto said, he would have to fully process this later </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The couple thanked him with wide smiles </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways...about this attack” Naruto said, moving them from the shocking news </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, you see I was attacked by something strange” Gara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” The two Shinobi asked in unison </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>A chakra powered Sand Monster.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i love them sm. I ALSO LOVE GARA AND LEE TOO UGH KINGS </p><p>I have a STATS exam on Friday and all i gotta say is....FUCK STATS ALL MY HOMIES HATES STATISTICS </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS MUAH MUAH</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“A chakra monster?” Naruto asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gara nodded his head “It came to me as a surprise as well, in fact, I didn’t even know it was a chakra monster at first encounter” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please explain your attack from the very beginning” Lee said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very well, I was out for a walk in the sand dunes at dawn, I have been doing this routinely a little after the war started just to clear my mind and make sure the village is fine. As normal, the village was calm and no dangers seemed to be present, even the sand dunes appeared to be normal. As I was making my way back, the sand suddenly shook and grains of sand began to lift from the ground and was gravitating towards this small ball of light, or so I thought at the time. It slowly began to gather together until it formed this small monster. It was odd and you could tell it was weak. However, it began to charge at me, but again very slowly. It appeared to try and form some hole in its stomach but it collapsed within itself, regardless of its apparent weak nature, I attacked it back nonetheless with my own sand and took it down before it did anything drastic. But as the sand fell, the ball of light that first appeared was gone, rather it was spread out just like the chakra flow in a person’s body. Which is why I assumed it was chakra powered” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto thought about this very carefully, this was weird. Where did this chakra come from, and did it work only with sand? Why was it so weak and why did it target Gara specifically? These unanswered questions only made Naruto think this whole situation was odd </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is indeed strange…” Lee said as he brought this hand to his chin </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I thought as well. I specifically requested you two since I know Naruto you have gained the ability to sense chakra. Lee although I admit I had my own personal reason for calling you out here, I know you are a strong ninja that is elite in close range battle” Gara explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re describing our abilities like…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like we might face it again. I know, and we might. I’m bringing you two back to the attack sight” Gara said as he finished Naruto’s thoughts </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then we shall do our best to find the enemy who dared attacked you my love” Lee said with a thumbs-ups </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bushy Brows is right, let’s go” Naruto said with a determined grin </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three boys made their way out of the Kazekage’s office and made their way to the sand dunes. Again, Naruto made sure that he still sensed Sasuke’s chakra, the raven was nearby, wherever he was, he was hidden well and Naruto was glad he knew Sasuke was around if they needed that extra support. Although, it was pretty unlikely Sasuke would reveal himself...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay alert guys, you never know if something could pop up” Naruto said, eyes scanning the sandy area </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Understood” Lee nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you’ve sense anything Naruto?” Gara asked the blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not yet” Naruto answered “Where’d you say the attack was?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gara took the lead and walked ahead for a moment “Right here, you could still see the disturbed sand on the ground” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Lee did in fact look around them, the sand was a mess, as it looked as if a small battle ensued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And the monster just...fell apart after you delivered your attacks?” Lee asked, he too was struggling to understand this strange event </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That is correct” Gara replied </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s so weir-” Naruto eyes widened, he froze in his movements</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He sensed something </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It was that chakra </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That same strange yet familiar chakra he encountered in the forest </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What was it doing in the Sand Village? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it Naruto? Did you sense something?” Gara asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded, holding his hands up as a gesture for the boys to remain quiet. The chakra was slowly growing </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s near.” Naruto said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let us prepare ourselves for a possible attack” Lee spoke, balling his fist up and standing in his fighting stance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys stood with their backs to each other, watching the area for any signs of this monster Gara had described </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, a glowing orb of light, </span>
  <em>
    <span>well chakra</span>
  </em>
  <span>, appeared to fly before them. Sand began to gather and fly toward it again, slowly forming the outline of some sort of creature </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s it, that’s the same thing that attacked me yesterday!” Gara cried out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before the boys had a chance to react, the Sand Monster suddenly spewed sand from its arms straight at the boys. As always, Gara’s sand shield put a barrier between the boys and the attacking creature</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gara, I believed you said this monster was uncoordinated when it came to battle?” Lee cried out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gara let the sand shield down “It was, it seemed to improved its offensive attacks” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto noticed how the monster slowly tried to put itself together after launching those streams of sand at them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It might have improved its attacks, but it’s still slow and takes a while to prepare for another one” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is the perfect opportunity to strike an attack, I will not waste it!” with that, Lee took off running with the speed of light he was known for and stuck his leg out to deliver a powerful kick to the creature. However, Lee’s kick when right through the sand monster, sand flying everywhere. Lee tumbled to the ground but skilfully rolled himself back up. He gave a slight frown at the failed kicked, he began running and pulled his arm back, then flung it forward as his fist collided with the head of the sand creature, yet again his attempts served no cause as his fist went right through the sand</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It appears as taijutsu has no effect on it!” Lee called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright good to know, my turn” Naruto said, he pulled out three kunai knives and threw them at the monster. Instead of going through the monster, it seemed to have been absorbed in the sand and go within the monster, however, moments later the knives slowly seeped from the monster and fell to the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It didn’t go through it this time?” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It seems like it’s trying to figure its limits, it’s still weak” Gara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a huff as he did his hand sign “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shadow Clone Jutsu</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two clones appeared beside Naruto, then three blondes began to run toward the beast. They let out battle cries as they began to launch physical attacks on the creature. Yet their kicks and punches were met with the same result as Lee</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Sand Monster seemed to have grown angry and let out a loud roar, those same powerful streams of sand launching from its body and hitting Naruto’s clones, they went out in a flash </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto quickly put some distance between him and the monster</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He growled and stuck his arms hand out, quickly focusing his chakra into his hall until a powerful glowing ball was seen in his hand. He began to run at top speed, he stuck his arm out  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Rasengan!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s Rasengan collided with the creature, boring a hole straight into its core and soon the creature exploded around it. Naruto quickly brought his arm to cover his face as sand from what was the creature’s body flew everywhere. When sand seemed to stop flying, Naruto moved his arm to observe if the creature was still there </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That did it!” Naruto smiled</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Way to go Naruto-kun!” Lee cheered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was about to respond when the sand around them began to move again, this time the ball of the strange chakra didn’t appear. Rather the individual grains of sand now glowed with that same chakra, it rose from the ground and flew together to form the sand monster all over again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What the…</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Naruto said in shock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s lasting much longer than last time” Gara yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then just a last time you must attack it with your sand, perhaps it can only be defeated with sand as well!” Lee told the boys </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gara narrowed his eyes and raised his hand, sand from his gourd began to fly out and take the shape of spears, they flew directly at the monster. The monster quickly absorbed the Kazegake’s sand and merged it with its own </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gara made a shocked noise “It’s absorbing my sand? It didn’t do that last time, it has indeed improved its attacks” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys we’re gonna attack it at the same time, maybe a combined powerful attack could take it out for good” Naruto commanded, the other two boys nodded their heads at Naruto’s plan</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three of them charged at the monster, Lee delivered multiple lightning-quick kicks to the monsters head, Naruto brought another two clones who attacked the monsters with chakra powered kunai knives and shuriken from all angles, Gara directed his sand to wrap around the Sand Monster and squeezed it, restricting its movements. As powerful as their attack was, the odd creature seemed to remain unaffected by their move </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys landed on the ground, Naruto released his clones and stared at the monster in disbelief </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What is this thing?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto said trying to catch his breath </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It might lack power in its attacks, but it seems to be resilient. Even our combined powerful attack didn’t do any damage” Lee said in frustration </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How could it learn to improve its defenses this quick?” Gara questioned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were distracted from their thoughts as the monster let out another loud and powerful roar, it shook violently as it was suddenly engulfed in black flames and pieces of the glowing sand began to fly out again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Black Flames? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That only meant one thing </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto couldn’t let the others discover that Sasuke was nearby. He had to act fast </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys hurry, you two need to go back to the village to make sure the village is okay, I see the sand flying in that direction” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Naruto, these flames! They could be dangerous” Gara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gara is correct, we cannot leave you here with this new threat” Lee yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You guys know I can hold my own, go to the village!” Naruto yelled back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but are you su-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I’m sure! Go now!” Naruto yelled as he cut off Gara </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee and Gara Naruto one final unsure look, but nonetheless followed his orders and made their way to the village fast. Once Naruto could see the two ninjas well well out of sight, he looked at the monster in front of him, it was slowly disintegrating and the glowing chakra of the sand began to fade away, Naruto could no longer sense that same strange chakra again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke!” Naruto called out into the open </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke suddenly appeared before him, the clever bastard picked a good hiding spot. Although Naruto thoughts about the raven’s ability to stay hidden were quickly replaced when he saw Sasuke holding his hand over his right eyes, a trail of blood under it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ran up to Sasuke and moved Sasuke’s hand, he quietly gasped as he saw the intricate pattern in the pupil </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, are you okay? Your eye! It’s bleeding” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, this is what happens when I activate my Amaterasu” Sasuke said  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tore a piece of his sleeve off, he used it to quickly wipe away at the blood</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why’d you use it? That seems like a last resort move, even for you” Naruto said as he cleaned the pale skin</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I watched as taijutsu, ninjutsu, and even Gara’s own sand had no effect on the thing. I tried to use my Sharingan to see if genjutsu would work but it didn’t. I wanted to see if my black fire would work and it did. It may have looked like your attacks did nothing on the creature, but you were gradually causing it to slow down, especially with the blow you delivered with your Rasengan, it caused it to grow weaker and not notice outside attacks” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was the same chakra I sensed out in the forest” Naruto said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Chakra like that felt weird, even I could feel it” Sasuke nodded “Are you okay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I’m fine, how’s your eye now?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blinked a few times, adjusting his vision again, Amaterasu always was a dangerous thing to use </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you I’m fine, I don’t like you worrying about me” Sasuke said as he moved his face away from Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme! Why can’t you ever let people think about you” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wasn’t going to fight, he finished that part of his life. And to Naruto’s point, he had multiple reasons as to why he shouldn’t let people worry about him, specifically why the blonde should refrain from always going after Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go back to Gara and Lee and tell them it’s all taken care of. I’ll meet you at the entrance so we can make our journey back” Sasuke said, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I trust that you won’t runaway from me again” Naruto joked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe...no promises” Sasuke said, though Naruto swears he saw the corner of Sasuke’s mouth raise a little </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yuhhh we got a lil action up in here🤪 what yall think this is? I'm curious </p><p>ALSO I KNOW IM NOT CRAZY BRUH, REAL QUESTION: OJ OR APPLE JUICE? IF YALL SAY APPLE JUICE WE GONNA HAVE TO SQUARE TF UP</p><p>comment &amp; kudos ♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>But where could these black flames have come from?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gara wondered out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now you know I’m no science expert, but my best guess is our combined chakras from our attacks mixed with the strange chakra and somehow exploded” Naruto said, trying his very best to lie to the two boys, he just couldn’t let them know this was Sasuke’s doing </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How bizarre” Lee said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I’m pretty sure we were weakening it by hitting it so many times!” Naruto smiled, he could at least say one thing that was true. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, Sasuke said this was…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It didn’t seem like that…” Gara said, a bit skeptical “Although, there were just so many unusual things about this creature” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto couldn’t agree more. The chakra the monster seemed to be powered by was the exact same chakra he discovered in the forest. How in the world did it manage to make its way here, and how did it manage to take on the form of a monster? This was beyond Naruto, he had a bad feeling about this. As much as he wanted to inform Gara and Lee of this connection, he couldn’t. Even though that chakra was undoubtedly the one he sensed, Naruto still was in the complete dark about it. He had to run it by Kakashi and Tsunade first before they could begin to tell people and build ideas about it. Naruto really didn’t like lying to his friends like this</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Was the village okay?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was, the people were completely unaware that a battle was near. However just as you pointed out, the unusual sand flew near to the village. Gara managed to isolate it and store it away in his gorge” Lee explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I plan to run some test, see on a molecular level what’s different about the sand, or even the chakra” Gara added “I’ll make sure to send you all a report of my findings right away” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good!” The two Konoha Shinobi said in unison </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I appreciate you both making the journey over here on such short notice. I am sorry I subjected you both to an unexpected attack” Gara said softly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not a problem, what are friends for?” Naruto grinned</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I would travel to the ends of the Earth for you my love! I am just glad to see that you are okay!” Lee exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gara ducked his head shyly, his pale face growing red </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re very kind to me Lee” Gara spoke, Lee gushed in delight as he practically jumped on the Kazekage for a bone-crushing hug</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Lee</span>
  </em>
  <span>...</span>
  <em>
    <span>c-can’t breathe</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gara struggled to say, Lee held on for just a little longer </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto chuckled at the two boys, he was glad to see the two boys happy together, he knew they both went through so much and deserved happiness </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I should heading back now” Naruto said, suddenly remembering a certain Uchiha was waiting for him. He knew Sasuke was near, he could steal sense his chakra</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That is an excellent suggestion Naruto, we should begin our travels back to Konoha together” Lee said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Actually uhm…” Naruto swallowed nervously, trying to make up yet another lie on the spot “You’re gonna have to go on ahead without me, I have another mission after this one” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Allow me to join you then!” Lee yelled, practically jumping off the walls with excitement </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Top Secret Bushy Brows, Hokage’s order” Naruto said, pulling Kakashi as his best excuse for a lie </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I completely understand, only Konoha’s best Shinobi would be allowed on such missions. I hope the power of youth flows within you on your mission Naruto!” Lee smiled with a thumbs up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you again Naruto, stay safe” Gara smiled as he waved the blonde off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave one last smile and waved to the boys before he took off towards the gates of the Sand Village. The raven’s chakra growing as he reached the exit, once Naruto reached the gates he looked around. Naruto looked above him, and on a barren tree saw Sasuke laying on one of the branches. His hood covering his face, but Naruto knew that chakra better than anyone</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You ready to go?” Naruto called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke jumped from the tree and landed in front of the blonde, he began walking forward, Naruto wordlessly followed him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gara managed to take some of the weird sand from the monster and is gonna study it. He’s gonna send over his findings to us” Naruto told the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am completely sure that’s the same chakra I felt in the forest. But how did it get over here and turn into that….” Naruto questioned</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did say it was weird, I guess we have to wait and see what Gara finds” Sasuke responded  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess so” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked at the sky “I think we should reach my hideout by nightfall if we hurry” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good ‘cuz I need a rest” Naruto huffed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rest?” Sasuke said as he raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes a rest, I’d sleep outside if you make me. There’s no way I’m gonna make it back to Konoha all in the same day” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke scoffed but began to run, he really hated the blonde sometimes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>****************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto kicked the door open to Sasuke’s room </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought you were sleeping outside” Sasuke scowled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t really think I was serious” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you think I’m not tired? You dragged me into this mission right when I came back from another one” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto walked into the room </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah but look at how well we worked together! We could be doing this a lo-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Enough Naruto.” Sasuke said, harshly cutting off the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t we be like Gara and Lee! They’re such a great team, sure they’re dating bu-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke said shocked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dating! I know right, I just found out myself too. But that’s beside the point, they’re a great team and actually work together. Why can’t we be like them?” Naruto cried out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well for starters, we aren’t dating” Sasuke deadpanned </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I meant, we’re a team remember!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what? You seemed to be doing fine with those two while I was in the background” Sasuke shrugged </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme! I just had to lie to them so they wouldn’t be suspicious about anything” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You seem to be lying a lot these days” Sasuke said dryly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s all because of you!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never asked you to lie for me” Sasuke said in a cold voice “Just like I never asked you to come find me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto saw red, anger quickly taking him and sparking up his extremely short temper</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t have to do these things if you just came back to the damn village” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re so damn stubborn, your entire reasoning is wrong! How many times do I have to tell you to get over that stuff? You’d be perfectly fine back at the village and do the exact same things you’re doing in the middle of fucking nowhere, all alone ” Naruto said as he shoved Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke is so surprised that he actually stumbles back a step, but as soon as he's caught himself, he's crowding into Naruto's personal space. He gets so close that they're almost touching, his face inches from Naruto's, this catches the blonde a bit off guard. But he stood his ground, if it came down to it, he could kick Sasuke's ass, no problem</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As if the tension in the air is a physical thing, something stretched so tightly that it's only seconds away from snapping. And it does, when Sasuke leans in a bit and whispers </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re still just an idiot who thinks he knows what’s best for me</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next thing he knows, Sasuke's got a hand around the back of Naruto’s neck, pulling him in, and Naruto’s got his hands gripped tightly on Sasuke's waist, fingers curling, nails trying to dig into flesh through his shirt. It hurts when Sasuke's lips meet his own. It's violent. His teeth press against his lips, and he makes a sound of pain that Sasuke matches with one of frustration</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto's not even thinking, he's just reacting. He pushes his hands under Sasuke's shirt, sliding up his back, and Sasuke's fists a hand in his hair, tugging at it until Naruto's lips part at force. Sasuke's tongue pushes into his mouth and all Naruto can do is focus on remembering how to breathe as he tries to kiss back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's like Sasuke's trying to kiss him and hurt him at the same time. Naruto does the same, pulling back, tugging sharply at Sasuke's bottom lip with his teeth until Sasuke hisses in a sharp breath</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Usuratonkachi" Sasuke said as he pushed Naruto back towards the bed, never fully breaking contact</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stumbles backward, tightly gripping the front of Sasuke's top "You're such an </span>
  <em>
    <span>ah...</span>
  </em>
  <span>" He gets cuts off when Sasuke's lips move to his neck, sucking harshly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"-You're such an asshole" Naruto gets out, shaky and weak </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shoves him down onto the bed, and Naruto goes without fighting it "I don't think anyone..." Sasuke starts, pausing only to climb on top of Naruto, legs on either side of Naruto’s waist "...pisses me off as much as you do. You just don’t fucking listen"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tries to take a breath, struggling with Sasuke's weight on top of him, as much as he was angry right now, he likes it. He pulls Sasuke down so their chests are pressed together, and this time it's him pushing his tongue into Sasuke's mouth, curling around Sasuke’s tongue </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke leans up and Naruto makes an annoyed, upset sound until Sasuke tugs his shirt off. When Sasuke kisses Naruto again, Naruto’s too busy running his nails over Sasuke's back, liking the way Sasuke arches when they dig in too much. He really hoped that he leaves red marks all over the pale skin </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke's length presses against his hip, and he groans when Sasuke grinds down against him, raggedly breathing into the crook of Naruto’s neck. He's still on fire, anger pulsing through him, but it's almost evenly matched with arousal at this point</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Tug my hair one more fucking time" Naruto warns while trying to grind up against Sasuke "and I swear-</span>
  <em>
    <span>ahh</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke does just what Naruto didn’t want and the sound Naruto makes was supposed to be annoyed, only it isn't. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It isn't at all </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What? Seems like you like it" Sasuke smirked against the tan skin</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He keeps tugging at Naruto’s blonde locks, but it doesn't really hurt much. It sends sharp pinpricks of arousal through him, and when Sasuke grinds down just right against him, just enough friction between their bodies to steal the air from his lungs</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck you Sasuke</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Naruto moaned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>What do you think I'm trying to do here?</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>Naruto’s eyes fall closed at that. </span><em><span>Is that where this is going? Seems to be. Does he want that? Maybe he'd say no if Sasuke wasn't still rolling his hips down into Naruto’s, mouthing along his neck as he does.</span></em> <em><span>But he is, and all Naruto can think about is finding relief from the red hot coil of tension in his stomach</span></em></p><p> </p><p>
  <span> "Then do it" Naruto snaps "Stop dry humping me"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pulls back abruptly, hovering over Naruto, propped up on his hands. He searches Naruto’s eyes for a moment and Naruto glares up at him, lips parted, panting embarrassingly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his mismatched and peered straight into blue orbs “You asked for it dobe” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stuck his fingers into Naruto’s mouth, almost gagging the blonde before Naruto can say anything. He forcefully moved his pale fingers within the warm and wet mouth, Naruto had no choice but to coat them in his own saliva. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fucking bastard” Naruto said as soon as Sasuke removed his fingers from his mouth</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He soon found lips crushing his own shut him up, and he's pretty sure that was Sasuke’s intention. Naruto goes with it, kissing him back eagerly because he's accepted that this is happening, and he's going to fucking enjoy it until it ends, even though he’s absolutely furious at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke undid his pants while Naruto sits up to tug off his jacket and shirt, and then pale hands are at the waistband of his own pants, he watched as Sasuke popped open the button and tugged down the zipper. He lifts his hips and Sasuke looks down at him with his bottom lip between his teeth. It makes Naruto squirm to be under his strong gaze</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Are you going to just sit there like that the whole time, or-" Naruto started in frustration, but was quickly cut off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s boxers are tugged so quickly down his hips he's pretty sure the seams rip. After that, there's no more kissing. No lingering looks or touches. Sasuke moves like the same heat that's burning Naruto’s up is coursing through his veins, and he wastes no time inserting his slicking up fingers, pushing one into Naruto with his eyebrows drawn together in concentration. No teasing, no arguments, just straight to the point</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time the second finger stretches him open, Naruto has his head tilted back. He can't look down at Sasuke anymore. It's too much, the drag of his fingers, the mild underlying pain, and the shivers that go through him every time Sasuke brushes that spot inside him. It's not enough for him, so Naruto pushes down against those pale fingers and tries to bunch his hands against the sheets of the mattress, gripping it tightly and increasing the hot feeling in Naruto’s stomach. This was all caused by their mutual furry </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Naruto hisses at the third finger that has entered him, and he can't tell if it's in pain or pleasure. Maybe it's both because they're blurring together in his mind, he could only focus on the sensation of Sasuke’s touches </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's no warning before Sasuke’s fingers are gone and Naruto would yell at him for it if he had any breath left in his lungs. He propped himself up on his elbows, he watches as Sasuke began to undo his own bottoms. He’ll never admit it but Naruto takes that one moment to appreciate Sasuke. Sure, he hates the guy, but that doesn't stop him from being handsome, no wonder he was the eye-candy of every girl in the village. All that training was seen on his body and the sweat shining on his skin only enhances the dips and curves, the hard muscles of his stomach and chest, the width of his shoulders, the curve of his cock, Naruto’s eyes grow slightly at the size</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto lays his head back against the pillow</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck Naruto...</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Sasuke moans quietly, leaning over Naruto once again. He moves so he's lying beside Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Get on top of me" Sasuke orders</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto has to bite back the instinctive tease he wants to throw</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't tell me what to do" The blonde growls </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After throwing yet another jab, Naruto does as he's told, thighs on either side of Sasuke’s body. One of Sasuke’s hands grabs his hip and the other lines himself up with Naruto’s hole, Naruto began to lower himself,  taking short little breaths and eyes squeezed closed as he went down. Sasuke is big, way too big for him, and for a moment it hurts more than it feels good. Until Sasuke’s hand fits between their bodies, wrapping around his dick, giving it a few short pumps </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It starts out slow, Naruto doing most of the work as Sasuke blinks up at him with heavily lidded eyes. But eventually, Sasuke grunts out a moan and both of his large hands grip  Naruto’s hips tightly, pushing him down, and he fucks up into Naruto with absolutely no remorse. Naruto collapses on top of him, head tucked into Sasuke’s neck, breathing damply against his pale skin because of the overstimulation. That is exactly how this is supposed to be between them. Nothing slow, careful, or gentle, just letting their anger overtake them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don’t tell me you’re close already" Sasuke smirked, lips brushing Naruto’s hair</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Naruto hisses, because he is</span>
  <em>
    <span> so, so fucking close</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Yet, he wanted to feel more, add to the extreme pleasure. Naruto pushes himself up, wrapping a hand around himself. Sasuke bats the tan hand away seconds later, replacing it with his own, and he twists his hips a bit, the angle changing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s nails leave indents on Sasuke’s chest when he cums white-hot between the two of them, gasping, toes curling, a shudder going through his whole body. He falls back against Sasuke’s chest but the raven keeps going, only slowing a fraction</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto whimpers, he can't help it, not with his oversensitive cock trapped between their bodies. Sasuke’s hands slide soothingly up his back, and his lips press to Naruto’s hair again, being incredibly gentle. Which is such a contrast from his teeth, threatening to break Naruto’s skin when he comes, biting at Naruto’s shoulder with a strangled sound</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Afterward, there's a moment of near silence where they lie pressed together, the soft sound of their breathing the only thing in the room. Sasuke’s hands keep rubbing at his back, and Naruto tries to collect himself and tries to tell his limp, rubbery-feeling limbs to move, but he can't just yet</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he can, he carefully climbs off Sasuke, wincing as he falls onto the bed beside him. Instantly Sasuke crawls over him, getting off the bed. Naruto stared up at the ceiling and hears Sasuke moving around. Naruto’s still trying to steady his breathing when he hears Sasuke speak </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to take a shower" and just before he's out the door, Sasuke looks at the blonde “The answer is still no” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The door shuts, and Naruto’s grateful when he hears Sasuke immediately turn the water in the distant bathroom </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked down at his body and scoffed when he saw that he's covered in drying come, sweat </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I hate you Sauke</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto spoke angrily into the empty room </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>shitttt....I mean👀 yeah. </p><p>ANYWAYS im real stressed y'all oof I don't like this but imma listen to some Kid Cudi and call it a day. COMMENT &amp; KUDOS😘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto walked into the village</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Tired wasn’t even the right word</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto was fucking exhausted and his body was sore </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde frowned as he thought about the person who was responsible for his exhaustion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto still didn’t even know what the hell led them to get </span>
  <em>
    <span>that passionate</span>
  </em>
  <span> in their argument, his body betraying him in the heat of the moment. He didn’t even want to deal with it. When Sasuke was taking a shower, Naruto got dressed quickly and went on his way to the village. He didn’t even bother stopping, he ran all the way to Konoha, hearing the complaints of Karuma who cursed him for making him witness him getting down with Sasuke and then using his Chakra for the energy to keep him going </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Some talking they did, why did they always end up arguing? Sasuke seemed to despise the fact that someone actually cared about him, and as always they ended up fighting. Naruto refused to let the raven off into the deep end again, he was going to get Sasuke back to the village for good. He was willing to do whatever it takes, though he didn’t expect sex to be one of those challenges he would face. As he said, he wasn’t going to think about it anymore, he definitely wasn’t going to think about how he liked it and it felt really good. The blonde just wanted to go home, so much had happened and he was in desperate need of some good sleep. He’d just tell Kakashi he’d arrive later</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Naruto reached his apartment, he dumped his bag on the floor, kicked his shoes off, and collapsed on his bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>**************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opened his eyes slowly, his room was so dark. Naruto yawned loudly as he rose from his bed, trying his best to look through his darkroom. He got up and looked through his blinds, it was already night. Naruto got here around the morning, it was 8 at night, he really slept through the whole day. He deserved it, after everything he’s been through. He made his way to take a shower, he really to wash himself and feel fresh again. As he scrubbed himself with soap Naruto noticed a bruise on his shoulder, he blushed slightly as he remembered where he got it from. He then looks at his hip bones to see bruises from where Sasuke had gripped him hard. Naruto let out a huff of annoyance at how much the raven had left him bruised, it was all out of anger so Naruto can’t be too surprised </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as he stepped out of the shower his stomach growled, and he sighed in sadness. Ichiraku’s was probably closed this late at night, he had once again missed an opportunity to eat at his favorite ramen shop. Naruto slipped on his plain t-shirt and bottom and boiled some water on the stove, opening his instant ramen cup and pouring the hot liquid inside. He quickly ate his noodles and as much as he wanted to eat three more cups, he had to report back to Kakashi, he wondered if the white man haired worried about him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked through the village, few people were still out wandering about, enjoying the late nightlife that finally returned after the war. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-Naruto-Kun?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned at the small high-pitched voice he recognized </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hinata, what are you doing out here this late?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was just picking up something for my father” Hinata answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well let me walk ya home, it’s kinda dangerous for you to be walking around here late” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata blushed “That’s..not necessary” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine” Naruto smiled, Hinata nodded her head shyly. He supposed reported to Kakashi would have to wait</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto didn’t mind walking the small girl home, he just wanted to make sure she returned safe and sound, especially during this time of night. He cared about Hinata, she was a friend and fellow ninja, she also was a reason Naruto is the person he is today. Even though she acts all weird around him, he wanted to make sure his fellow comrade was okay </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing out at this hour?” Hinata asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just came from a mission, I gotta go report back Kakashi” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This late?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he starts yelling at me if I don’t go check in with him” Naruto said “Besides, he’s late all the time to everything. He can cut me some slack” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata giggled at the blondes snarky remarks of their Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How was the mission?” Hinata asked again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Great, another person to lie to.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He really hated Sasuke, all this could be over and avoided if he just returned to the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It went well, Lee and I went to go help Gara with something back at the Sand Village” Naruto smiled, the bastard was right, he was lying a lot these days. Though this was the actual truth, he was just leaving certain details out, he was definitely going to do the same thing when he was talking to Kakashi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds exciting. I’m sure you’ve just been busy with missions, you are a war hero and future Hokage!” Hinata smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess so, how about you? What have you’ve been up to” Naruto asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been around the village wherever I can. My father has also been pushing me in my studies to become the next leader of the Hyuuga Clan” Hinata said, her smile faltering a bit </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s great! But ya sure don’t sound that excited about it” Naruto said as he raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No it’s an honor, I’ve been waiting for my father to acknowledge my abilities and all. But I suppose I had another thing envisioned for my future” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata blushed once again “L-Like become a wife and start a family” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Pft</span>
  </em>
  <span>, now why would you wanna do that? Being a leader is an amazing goal!” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-Well, that’s true. I just mean it’s also good to want to settle down with a special someone” Hinata said, her big eyes looking up at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I hope you find that special someone soon!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A-Actually, I alre-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look at that, we’re here” Naruto said as he cut off the small girl</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata gave a small sigh but smiled again “Thank you so much, you really didn’t have to walk me home” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it, what are friends for?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata’s smiled falter once again, she looked at the ground as she walked into her home. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was glad to see Hinata safe and at home, he turned and began making his way back to the Hokage’s building, hoping Kakashi wouldn’t chew him out too much </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked past the Anbu Black Ops and opened the door to the Hokage’s office </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Ka-</span>
  <em>
    <span>OWW</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And where have you’ve been young man?” Tsunade yelled, having just boinked Naruto hardly on the head with her fist </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto rubbed the pained spot “When did you get here Grandma Tsunade?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This afternoon, </span>
  <em>
    <span>which</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the time </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> were supposed to arrive” The older blonde said sternly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I came in the morning actually” Naruto grumbled, his head still hurt </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The morning? From the Sand Village? What can you teleport now?” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nooo, I just ran faster than normal and I borrowed some of Karuma’s chakra to give me that extra boost. Then as soon as I got here, I went straight home and slept for a really long time” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm, then why did you not return to Lee. He said you went off on some other mission Kakashi had assigned you” Tsunade said raised </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not your business!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade delivered another hit on the blonde’s head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>OWWW</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright Naruto, Lady Tsunade is aware of the situation with Sasuke” Kakashi mentions </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now you speak” Naruto grumbled at the Hokage, rubbing his pained head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With Sasuke? I thought Sasuke’s punishment was to be alone? Isn’t that what he requested?” Tsunade asked the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It appears as Naruto had other plans” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The brat still can’t listen to directions” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto scoffed, like he needed even more people telling him that he doesn’t listen </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I was with him” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I figured, that’s why I addressed the both of you when I sent my messenger bird” Kakashi added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Care to share what the to of you were up to?” Tsunade inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s face heated slightly, he rather not share that they spent half the mission arguing and then fucking, not to mentioned that they shared their third kiss together and cuddled  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was just there to visit him, I found out where he was so I’m gonna see him. I’m not gonna let him go again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade shook her head at this</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways, we were just sitting around when we received Kakashi-Sensei’s message about Gara needing our help. So he joined me on the mission” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did he join you or you make him” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He joined me!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay I may have pushed him a little” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You brat” Tsunade grumbled, Kakashi sighed, he knew the truth even though he just questioned Naruto until he finally admitted to it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go on” Tsunade said “How’d the mission go?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well as soon we got the message, we packed quickly and began to get a move on. We stopped when we reached nightfall and set up camp” Naruto paused, trying to control another from coming as he remembered how the two boys accidentally cuddled “Then we finally reached the Sand Village. Just like you said Kakashi-Sensei, Sasuke kept his distance and stayed hidden from Gara and Lee the entire mission. Gara told us about how was attacked by a chakra-powered sand monster in the sand dunes. While he was taking us back to the sight of his attack, the monster showed up again and attacked us. Although it wasn’t strong, it has a good defense. Our ninjutsu, taijutsu, and regular genjustsu didn’t work but it did make it weaker. It finally went away when Sasuke used his Amaterasu” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi and Tsunade exchanged a certain look</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A chakra powered Sand Monster” Kakashi said, slightly surprised at such an odd enemy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you tell Tsunade about the weird chakra I found?” Naruto asked the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He did, what about it?” Tsunade answered for Kakashi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I sensed the same chakra, this monster was being powered by that same weird chakra. Even Sasuke said that it felt weird!” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you manage to get a sample of it this time?” Kakashi inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, Sasuke’s black fire burned most of it away. But Gara managed to get a sample from sand that flew near the village. He is gonna run it through some test and promised to send us a report of all his findings as soon as he gets them” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is strange for sure” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s interesting that you mention that attack of a chakra-powered monster…” Kakashi started, Tsunade nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just witnessed a chakra-powered monster on my travels” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes grew as he made a surprised noise “</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Fifth Hokage came back from her travels to stop and tell me about this monster, and now that you mentioned another chakra monster...this could get out of hand” Kakashi said seriously </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’d you see it?” The blonde said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In the Land of Mist, its chakra presence felt strange too. I wonder if we could be talking about the same thing” Tsunade explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No way…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The reason we were waiting for you this late is that we wanted you to check it out since you’ll be able to sense and identify if it’s the same chakra you encountered in the forest” Kakashi stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We want you to go to the Land of Mist and go see if you could spot it again, try to get that sample so we can have our own and compare it with Gara’s. I’ll make sure we investigate the chakra you found here and see if we can locate it again” </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The blonde nodded at his former teacher, he found this whole thing suspicious and he was going to get to the bottom of this </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But wait….</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Shit, Naruto would need to bring him along </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I gotta bring Sasuke with me again” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the blonde’s words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We still don’t know what or how strong these things work, and since Sasuke managed to deliver the final blow to defeat the first monster, he could be useful if I needed to bring this one down too” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very well, remember to keep a low profile. We need to get to the bottom of this before anything starts up” Kakashi nodded at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What could be behind all this, especially after the war just ended?” Tsunade sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry guys, Sasuke and I will take care of it” Naruto smiled with determination </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The adults nodded at the boy, they knew better than to bet against the two war hero’s whenever they were together </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Naruto @ Hinata: Y'all hear sumn???</p><p>not me adding more drama and plot twist👀 lets see how yall feel about this next one...</p><p>I JUST FINISHED THIS COMIC/MANGA CALLED KILLING STALKING.....I need to wash my eyes with holy water cuz what in the cinnamon toast crunch was that....</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS😘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The blonde raced to that familiar spot he’d happily but reluctantly managed to memorize in a short amount of time. As he glided through the trees, the raven’s chakra grew within his senses </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the day after Kakashi and Tsunade had detailed Naruto about the appearance of yet another chakra-powered monster. This was beginning to stray farther than just a coincidence, he found the weird flower and rock in the forest, next it was the attack with the Sand Monster, and now a monster in the Land of Mist who also seemed to be powered by chakra. Naruto didn’t like this one bit, and he was going to get to the bottom of it before this could turn ugly. But first, he needed to get his teammate to help him on this trip </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached his destination and hopped down the trees, walking into the underground hideout. He walked through the dark hallways and pushed a few doors open, trying to remember his way around and guessing where the raven could be. He reached the little kitchen area, suddenly he saw a kunai knife fly at him. He moved to the side instantly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme! Stop throwing stuff at me!” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He saw a figure sitting at the table hunched over, Sasuke briefly looked back at him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you to stop coming here? Especially unannounced.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like an intruder could find this place anyway” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A certain idiot managed to” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up” Naruto growled “Are you so mad that you can’t even face me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven still had his back to Naruto, the blonde grew annoyed. Naruto walked over to stand in front of Sasuke, but as he was about to yell at him, his face slightly dropped as he saw the condition the pale man was. He was bruised and battered and was pressing cloth to a bandaged section of his thigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, don’t worry about it” Sasuke said flatly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look at you...What happened? You’re bleeding, </span>
  <em>
    <span>gross</span>
  </em>
  <span> let me help you out” Naruto said as he reached his hand out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shoved his hand away “I said I’m fine” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke you’re bleeding a lot” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m taking care of it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just let me help” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need your help” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dammit Sasuke let me see it!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said no-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke barely managed to finish that statement when Naruto roughly grabbed his chin and brought his face towards him, crashing their lips together in a kiss. At the same time, Sasuke felt Naruto’s hand on his thigh and a sudden burst of Naruto’s healing chakra surge through him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto released their lips and looked at the wound at Sasuke’s thigh, it was quickly beginning to heal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blushed and turned his head to the side in a scowl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t have to do that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I learned from the best. Call that payback, you’re the stubborn one here” Naruto smirked, enjoying the murderous look Sasuke gave him in response </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked around the kitchen and found a cloth rag, he went to go pick it up and wet it with warm water. He then stood in front of the raven and lifted his chin once again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not planning on kissing me again” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No” Naruto blushed “I’m just gonna clean you up a bit” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rolled his eyes, but just gave up in pursuing a fight, letting the blonde use the warm rag to tend to his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happened anyway? You definitely shouldn’t be able to get this bruised up” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was out for a walk in the forest when I suddenly felt weird. And I was around the same place where you found that one strange chakra. Once I got there, you wouldn’t believe what I saw” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Another Chakara-powered monster” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s heart dropped at those words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Another monster?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto whispered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This one was small, it was covered in leaves but you could tell it had chakra inside it. As soon as it saw me, it attacked me. I managed to attack it pretty easily at first, but then…” Sasuke paused and looked at the blonde “I remembered what you told me about the chakra feeling familiar” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stopped moving the cloth around the pale face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how to explain either, but I definitely felt that chakra level before. I was so distracted by this feeling that it managed to land a critical hit on me at my thigh. We tussled it out for a while, this one was resilient just like the one we encountered in the Sand Village. I noticed that as much as it wanted to attack me, it was obviously holding back. It was like it didn’t want me hurt too bad. Anyways I infused my Chidori with my sword and it completely obliterated the monster. A huge mistake on my part, I didn’t get a chance to get a sample of it” Sasuke ended </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright, you took it down and made it back. We still can rely on Gara’s report too” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“These events are connected, they have to be” Sasuke told himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Naruto finished with Sasuke’s face, he placed the dirty cloth in the trash and sat beside the raven in the kitchen </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait till I tell ya why I came over here for” Naruto sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow, it wasn’t to bother me. It must be my lucky day” Sasuke said, his words dripping with sarcasm </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, I’m serious Sasuke” Naruto snapped, the raven only gave a curt nod </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told Kakashi-Sensei and Grandma Tsunade about the monster we saw back at Gara’s and they told me they saw another one. While Tsunade was traveling in the Land of Mist, she saw a chakra-powered monster too” Naruto stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke furrowed his brows “</span>
  <em>
    <span>No way</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And now you say you saw another one...Sasuke this is becoming a huge problem, and fast. We’re completely in the dark about these things!” Naruto cried out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked at his now completely healed thigh, what was the meaning behind the sudden appearance of these monsters, and what was this chakra source coming from </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How the hell are they moving from place to place like this? And what or who’s behind the chakra powering them?” Sasuke wondered out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I want to know” Naruto said, he thought deeply about Sasuke’s encounter again “You said it was holding back on you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded his head “I could see it in its movement. Especially after it cut my thigh, it was like it was choosing its next moves deliberately. Attacking me fiercely to keep me at bay, but not taking me out completely” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This just gets weirder and weirder. It’s hurting my head” Naruto whined dramatically </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke tried to get up, a little shaky from Naruto’s surging chakra inside him. If anything, the last time they were together, he was the one inside of Naruto. Sasuke faced heated slightly at the memory, not wanting them to get angry enough to let their fury blind them like that again. Hell, they just shared their </span>
  <em>
    <span>fourth</span>
  </em>
  <span> kiss together, Sasuke was beginning to hate how they fired each other up when they were angry and turned to the strangest methods to take it out on one another. He did give up fighting, the blonde was pushing him to use </span>
  <em>
    <span>other methods…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where ya going?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tea” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sit down you’re still healing. I’ll make it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No thanks. I know for a fact the only thing you know how to make in a kitchen is instant ramen”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, that’s enough for survival! And I can do other stuff in a kitchen ya know” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I give you the benefit of the doubt” Sasuke said as he sat back down </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grumbled at the raven as he now got up and moved about the small kitchen. He managed to find the kettle and filled it out with water. While it began to boil, Naruto rummaged through Sasuke’s incredibly empty cabinets and managed to find tea leaves. He dropped them in the water and waited a bit. Once he found the cups, he poured the tea for the raven and handed it to him proudly. Sasuke took a sip </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve had better” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s like you hate me” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not wrong” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled, Sasuke might have given the world’s smallest smiled at that </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should tell Kakashi and Tsunade about my encounter” Sasuke said as he took another sip of his hot tea </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I will, after we complete our mission” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sat his cup down and raised an eyebrow at what the blonde just told him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did I forget to tell you? Oops, must have slipped my mind” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naru-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Basically</span>
  </em>
  <span>, we have to go to the Land of Mist to see if we can track down the monster and make sure we get a piece of it to bring back to Konoha” Naruto explained, cutting off the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This seems like something you can do on your own” Sasuke threw at him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe me I know” Naruto muttered “But since we’ve each seen a monster and it seems like we both can take it down one way for another, I need you to come with me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, you need to stop bringing me on your missions” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told Kakashi and Tsunade about it and they said it’s fine. Besides, it’ll just be the two of us so you won’t have to worry about hiding or anything” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed “First of all, I am carrying out my punishment. I am doing my punishment because I’m a criminal Naruto, and as a criminal, I do have to worry about staying hidden. I made a lot of people upset with my actions, anyone could be after me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke for the last time, you aren’t a criminal. How come you can go on your little atonement missions then? You don’t seem too worried then” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When I’m alone I know where I’m going and have a good idea of what to expect. Besides, I don’t have that extra risk factor of you being with me” Sasuke snapped back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I got your back, imagine if I didn’t come back and help you with your injuries. You don’t have to worry about me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you don’t have to worry about me.” Sasuke told the blonde sternly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto narrowed his eyes and looked straight into those black and purple eyes, anger slowly rising in him. Sasuke seemed to notice blonde’s growing attitude and let out another deep sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look Naruto, I don’t want to fight with you about this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t either. Which is why I don’t understand why you can’t just go along with what I tell you” Naruto responded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose “I keep telling you why” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah well, it doesn’t make sense to me. It’s been too long Sasuke, we’re going to work together as comrades once again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The guilt Sasuke hated feeling hit him once again, he knew Naruto wanted to make up for the lost time. When he’s doing bitter self-reflection, Sasuke allows his mind to wonder what his life would be like if he stayed in the village. Would he and Naruto be closer shinobi, going on endless missions together? He supposed he sympathized with the blonde’s desire, but there were so many risks he didn’t want Naruto to experience anymore because of him. Sometimes he still didn’t understand why Naruto wanted to see Sasuke as this image of his old self before he left the village. How could Naruto forgive him that easily, after all the pain he’s caused him? Sasuke will always carry this regret and guilt with him due to his actions and all that he put Naruto through, he will never understand how Naruto brushed all this off and still actively sought out a criminal like him and all the risks. The idiot was just too dumb or stubborn to actually acknowledge the dangers, still, Sasuke was now on a new path, he wanted to avoid fighting at all cost, especially with the soon to be Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright Naruto, I’ll go with you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled “We’ll leave tomorrow. I’ll send Kakashi-sensei a message from here to get a boat ready for us and let him know we’re on our way over there. I wanna make sure you have a chance to fully rest and heal, also make sure we properly pack for the long journey” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds like a plan” Sasuke nodded “Wait, you’re not planning on staying here” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I am, now I’m thinking I can have the bed in the main room and you can sleep somewhere else. Like the couch, if you even have a couch, or the floor. You should be fine right” Naruto said as he swiped the cup of Sasuke’s tea and chugged it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was incredibly close to activating his Sharingan and Rhinnegan </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A lil cute NaruSasu moment because I just love it when they’re angry yet care &lt;3 </p><p>SOOO I TOOK MY STATS EXAM AND I FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT IT, THANK YOU SM FOR THE GOOD VIBES I LOVE YALL </p><p>Anyways lemme drop an unpopular opinion about music (yall can drop some too) but I just can’t rock with todays pop music, like I frfr can’t listen to it idk tho thats just me😗</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS🤝</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Lemme drive the boat”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Naruto you don’t even know how a boat works”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wanted to push Naruto off the boat 5 times. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Naruto stop poking me”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“But I’m boreddddd Sasuke”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He almost wanted to kill Naruto 10 times.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’s west Sasuke, believe me you’re completely wrong.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Naruto you’re not even pointing West, just give me the map” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had a total of 17 arguments.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The journey wasn’t bad, I felt it fly by” Naruto smiled as he looked through the misty skies </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave him an unamused look, he was about to make it 11 times he wanted to kill the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now let me look at where the old woman labeled these coordinates” Naruto pulled out the map the Hokage gave him once again, he looked at it for a long time and scratched the back of his head “Are we even on the right island?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke snatched the map from Naruto and looked at it himself, Naruto peered over his shoulder </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re close, it should be beyond those trees. By the waterfall” Sasuke said as he folded the map away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto squinted his eyes to try and look beyond the trees</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Man these trees are thicker than the ones back home, add the heavy mist. It’s impossible for even a monster to be around here” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. Remember, there’s still a lot we don’t know with these things” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah whatever, I can handle these things, believe it!” Naruto smiled proudly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why did you push so hard for me to come along? I believe you said something about needing my help on this mission?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s smiled quickly dropped “You know maybe I should have left you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As I originally wanted” Sasuke sighed, but he walked ahead of the grumbling blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re so emotional ya know that” Naruto threw before he ran to catch up with the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did they say what the monster looked like?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She said it was small in size, this one was composed of mist so she could clearly see the chakra flowing through it” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did it attack her?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope, she only saw it from a distance. It probably didn’t see her” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Or it didn’t want to attack her” Sasuke said “That’s interesting that it was composed of mist. It seems another common thing we can safely inference about these creatures is that they form from whatever is in the environment they’re in” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The chakra is another thing they all have” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“True, but how is traveling so fast and this quick?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what we’re here to figure out. We will get a sample” Naruto said with determination</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys walked through the misty forest, staying extra vigilant about their surroundings just in case the creature was about to pop up, but there was something off...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sensing anything?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing other than our chakras” Naruto answered the raven  “You don’t think it could have disappeared or something” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s a possibility” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto continued walking when his ears suddenly picked up the sound of rushing water. He ran a little further </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, here’s the waterfall!” Naruto called back, he ran until he was standing right beside the flowing water </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke finally reached the waterfall as well, he looked around to make sure there weren’t any threats </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess we should just wait here and see if anything shows up” Naruto told the raven who was walking to stand next to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose you’re right” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can have lunch while we wait! I’m starving” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You just ate before we got off the boat”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly, that was so long ago” Naruto whined</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only rolled his eyes. Naruto plopped off the ground and slipped off his bag, already digging for food. Sasuke sat down too, although he activated his Sharingan to heightened his senses and keep a sharper eye out for threats. Suddenly he saw a blonde face way too close to his </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya know I always wanted to see how you activated your Sharingan” Naruto said, still invading Sasuke’s personal space </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like how does it appear” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I got it from hate” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know that back story teme, I mean how does work” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just say it out loud or I just make it appear myself. It’s a whole process, just like how you conjure Kurama with inner momentum and chakra” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I’ve never seen it up close” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was confused by the blonde’s sudden interest but in order to shut Naruto up with the questions, he made his eye go back to normal for a second, then activated his Sharingan once again. Naruto grabbed his face with both his hands and pulled him impossibly closer, their noses practically touching </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Woahhh</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it’s so cool and the design looks so pretty” Naruto said in awe </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blushed at the comment and looked away</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait look at me again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke did as he was told </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah it’s so cool, and it just fits with your Rinnegan” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still flushed, Sasuke gently pushed Naruto’s face away “You’re weird”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not a lot of people have your eyes” Naruto said as he sat back in his own space </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not a lot of people go through what I did to get them” Sasuke said flatly  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess your right” Naruto said as he looked at the water cascading down the waterfall </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But thanks.” Sasuke said so quietly it was barely audible</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Naruto said, he could have sworn he just heard Sasuke tell him thanks </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“About my eyes” Sasuke looked away as his blush got fiercer “Thanks” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Yeah of course” Naruto grinned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde turned his attention back to his backpack and pulled out a big bag</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pushed the bag in Sasuke’s hands </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Chips?” Sasuke said as he inspected the</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup, pork flavored too. I stole these from Chouji” Naruto chuckled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he opened the bag and took a chip and popped one in his mouth </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright I guess” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have a bad flavor pallet” Naruto said as he took the bag back and began munching some on his own, Sasuke only shook his head at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto fixed his eyes to settle on the waterfall. It was a beautiful sight to see and the sound of the water falling was calm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have some memories with waterfalls” Naruto spoke </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Guilt washed over Sasuke again, he reluctantly remembered the hatred that ran between them when they fought at the waterfall as kids just before he left</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah we do” Sasuke said softly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached his arm out and wrapped it around the raven’s shoulder and brought him close </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can make a much happier memory right now” Naruto smiled down at Sasuke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Sasuke would never be worthy of Naruto’s kindness and friendship, no matter how hard he wanted Naruto to give up on him, the blonde was always reaching out towards him. Sasuke allowed himself to be held close to Naruto, giving a small smile </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the two snacked a little, they got back to waiting. After a while of waiting, Naruto accidentally fell asleep on Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke considered throwing the blonde in the running water in front of them, but he decided he liked the silence enough to tolerate it. After a while, Naruto began to stir and awoke from his sleep</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still nothing?” Naruto yawned as he stretched </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geez what’s taking this thing so long” Naruto huffed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke just shrugged, Naruto noticed that Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, the red orb quickly replaced by onyx  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto got up and mindlessly and walked around, he looked up at the sky, or at least tried to, the mist was still heavy</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That’s funny</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There wasn’t mist when they came from the waterfall</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He sensed something </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned and saw Sasuke standing, his hand ready on his sword </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I feel something strange” Sasuke called back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the mist that surrounded them began to gather together in the form of a shape </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit, here it comes” Naruto said as ran beside Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A small creature soon appeared before them, the stream of chakra flowing through it visible </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How the hell are we supposed to get a piece of it now? It’s mist!” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dammit” Sasuke cursed “it’s not heavy too, I don’t think we can. But look, we can see the flow of chakra within it. And it looks like its weak spot is where a heart would be”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see it! Okay you distract it and I’ll hit it with my Rasengan” Naruto instructed, Sasuke nodded</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pulled out his shuriken and threw them at the mist creature. They all flew right through them, but as the monster was allowing them to phase through him Naruto’s Rasengan ball dove straight into a creature’s weak spot</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Rasengan burst through the creatures making the mist go away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It went away? That easy?” Naruto said shocked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t let your guard down. Remember the sand monster went away for a while when you hit it with the Rasengan and it came back” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then if it’s the same pattern. Use your Amaterasu when it comes back ” Naruto shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke closed his eyes, he was waiting for the being to come back. He could feel it, but he knew Naruto would tell him when it respawned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as they predicted the mist began to take shape into the creature. However, Sasuke heard the blonde make startled noise </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is is Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The mist is thicker in its weak spot. This is just like the last one we faced, it’s not using any offensive attacks, it’s all about protecting itself. And once it gets defeated the first time it learns how to protect itself better and maintains the steady protection of itself” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fucking hell, they </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> connected” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now Sasuke!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes snapped open “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Amaterasu</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Black flames suddenly took over the creature’s body, it roared loudly as it was slowly being consumed by the infinite fire </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto noticed the intricate pattern in Sasuke’s right eye, blood slowly beginning to drip down from it, he ran over to the raven, careful not to be caught up in the black fire. Sasuke closed his eyes before he could damage them too much from using Amaterasu. At least the monster was taken down again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Naruto ran up to the raven, he used his thumb to wipe away at the single stream of blood rolling down Sasuke’s eye </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your eye fine?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah just give me a minute” Sasuke said, allowing for the blonde to finish wiping the blood off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke finally opened his eyes again and saw Naruto washing his hand with the water from the waterfall</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This was too quick” Naruto said as he dried his hands on his clothes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I agree” Sasuke said looking around once more “logically speaking we were able to use our knowledge from previous attacks to take it down. But still...all it did was protect itself” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We also sprung our attack before it could do something to us” Naruto added “But it did another thing that was different. It protected its weak spot. None of the monsters we’ve faced before did that. It was just mindless defensive moves with the others” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a deep sigh “Just what the hell is going on” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. But dammit we’re gonna find out” Naruto said as he tightened his fist </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys allowed themselves to be in a moment of silence, resting a bit from the small fight </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What am I gonna tell Kakashi-Sensei and Grandma Tsunade?” Naruto sighed loudly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly what just happened. The creature didn’t allow us to get a sample of it and we took it down. Although, you managed to confirm its location. It’s useful to add the other sightings of these weird things” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right. It’s just...I was hoping we could get something back to the village. It’s like I screwed up twice now trying to get that weird chakra back” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Here goes Naruto blaming himself again, Sasuke didn’t like Naruto doing this, especially around him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did what you could do Naruto” Sasuke told the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled at the raven “</span>
  <em>
    <span>We</span>
  </em>
  <span> did what we could do” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe” Sasuke chuckled “We should probably head back to the boat now. We did the mission to the end” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right. And at the very least, we always have Gara’s report to fall back on. That’s going to be a huge help and should allow getting some clues about these things” Naruto said, Sasuke hummed in agreement </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two began making their way back to the boat </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think they’ll let me steer the boat?” Naruto asked Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you think Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope so”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yuhhh our gay boys fucking shit up ONCE AGAIN. 😌✨</p><p>Y'all peep the Kodack references💀</p><p>Bruh it is getting warmer now and I CANNOT TAKE IT, I HATE SPRING AND SUMMER </p><p>comment &amp; kudos MUAH&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“God I’m tired” Sasuke mumbled to himself as he walked into his hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had spent another large amount of time with Naruto on the journey back, it was somehow was worse a second time </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sasuke look at the mountain over there!” Naruto said, leaning dangerously over the railing </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Careful Naruto, you’re going to fall overboard” Sasuke warned </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“No I’m not. See I’m over it and-WOAH” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The blonde fell into the sea with a loud splash, he soon broke through the water and coughed </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Quick Sasuke, lift me back up” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Can this boat go any faster?”  </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven dumped his stuff on a random spot as he walked further into the hideout</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait up Sasuke” Naruto called out behind him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go back home and leave me alone. You’ve spent more than enough time with me, even though you shouldn’t, and I’m exhausted”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So dramatic” Naruto huffed “And I’m tired too, but we need to recap and figure out our next move” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do that” Sasuke said as he walked into his room and fell gracefully on his bed, falling face-first onto his pillow. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and was eagerly awaiting sleep when suddenly he felt a heavy weight fall on top of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke I’m serious. We need to plan what we’re going to do now” Naruto said above the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto get the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> off me” and with that, Sasuke harshly pushed the blonde off his back. Naruto fell on the floor with a large thud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Owwww</span>
  </em>
  <span> you could have asked politely” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Or you could have not gotten on me like a normal person” Sasuke threw back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto got off the floor and this time sat on the corner of the bed, being extra careful not to touch the moody raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what should we do?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>We </span>
  </em>
  <span>don’t do anything. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span> should tell all this to Kakashi and Lady Tsunade in order to discuss what you should do next” Sasuke’s muffled voice said from the pillow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course we have to do something. We’re too caught up in this to just leave it alone” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You forced me to get caught up in all this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke buried his head deeper into his pillow, hoping Naruto would get the hint. However, the blonde was just as dense as ever. Naruto was getting tired of Sasuke not giving him any attention, so he decided to risk his life and lean on the raven’s back, resting his cheek against Sasuke’s shoulder</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do you always have to touch me” Sasuke grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This seems to be the only way to grab your attention” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave out a deep sigh, deciding he was too tired to push the blonde off a second time </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways...thoughts?” Naruto said, lowering his voice as he was already really close to Sasuke’s ear  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s not much we can do with the little knowledge we have about these monsters other than we know how to attack them and their defensive abilities. We just have to do what you say and wait for what Gara’s report details and draw inferences from that” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I don’t like just waiting, we have to do something” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go ask the Hokages” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll have to come with me” Naruto pointed out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was not going to explain his situation all over again, the blonde just refused to listen to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe you should tell Kakashi to let you make a squad to go and pinpoint the locations of these monsters again. Try to find them and definitely get that sample from each one, although you would have to get creative with the Mist one. If you don’t find them, observe the environment and see what leads them to form” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto hummed in agreement with what Sasuke laid out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We also have the chakra to figure out. You felt how weird it was?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did. The one composed of leaves that I found back at the location was powerful alright. I don’t have that same heightened sensory you have for chakra, but anyone could feel the strange presence of that chakra. And just like you said, I never saw or felt it before, but something about it felt like I had” Sasuke tried to say clearly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know! I said the same thing, and you know what the weird thing is” Naruto prompted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gara and Lee never said anything about the chakra, other than seeing it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at this, shifting slightly to get more comfortable with this new weight that was still on top of his back “Lee isn’t familiar with chakra. But Gara though, that’s something to think about. Chakra like that was enough to cause anyone to notice it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly, it’s too strange!” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But didn’t you say Lady Tsunade felt it” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She never specifically said anything about feeling it, she just used her expert opinion to say it was weird. And since Kakashi-sensei had already told her that I found some weird chakra, she just assumed this could be it. But she just saw it, you think it didn’t want to attack her remember” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I still think that. Then that leads us to new questions, why does it only seemingly attack us?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But it attacked Gara first. Then Lee and me when we were all together” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Since this was the first sighting of the monsters, it wouldn’t be too crazy to think it’s just attacked Gara because he just happened to be there” Sasuke stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That could be true” Naruto “Then in that case, did the leaf monster attack you because you just happened to be there?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You could say that, but l told you it was obviously holding back its attacks on me. And even the mist monster didn’t attack, but the sand monster did and I wasn’t in its sight”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait wait wait, you mean to tell it attacks me but not you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s likely” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why am I always the one to get the bad stuff” Naruto muttered “But I like your plan and I’m definitely going to run it by Kakashi-sensei to get his thoughts and give us the okay to go ahead”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stayed silent, he wasn’t going to let Naruto believe he was going to actually continue this with him. Maybe if he acted like he was asleep the blonde would leave him alone. Even though Naruto was dumb, it seems like he could see through Sasuke’s act. Naruto poked the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi, you’re listening to me right? I know you’re not asleep” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I’m not asleep” Sasuke sighed again “I wish I was though”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Back to what I was saying. The squads sound like the right thing to track and take down these creatures once and for you. With me, you, and Sakura as a squad we’ll get it done in no time. It’ll be just like old times and team 7 is back for good” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Okay maybe Sasuke did need to say something</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I already told you I’m not going to do this with you anymore” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and I told you that’s not possible”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke grew irritated “Can you just listen to me for one second and actually trying to understand the situation I’m in”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And what’s the situation? You’re just as invested and involved in this whole situation as I am” Naruto snapped</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m supposed to be atoning for my crimes”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t call this atoning?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is you being selfish and refusing to listen so you can drag me into whatever you want to do”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not being selfish! And I’m not listening because your entire reasoning is wrong. If you could just see things from our-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Our? You mean you Naruto?” Sasuke snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We all want you fucking back Sasuke. You’re not even doing anything” Naruto snapped back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke patience had officially worn out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re not letting me do anything. My punishment is supposed to allow for me to be alone to carry out my agenda, I can’t do that if you’re always fucking around and bringing me along on your little adventures” Sasuke said coldly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled in anger as he got up from Sasuke’s back and flipped the raven’s body over, forcing him to look at Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell is your probl-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me that me being around doesn’t allow for you to do anything” Naruto said lowly as he cut Sasuke off “Yeah I’m around you a lot. Do you wanna know why? Because I couldn’t do anything when you were gone. I put my entire life on pause, just so I could find you and bring you back to the village” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde. How many times was Naruto going to remind Sasuke of his biggest regret? Sasuke knew all of this, he knew his abandonment of the village caused a huge shift in a lot of people’s lives, especially Naruto’s. This is why he urged to be alone and for the blonde to stay away. Sasuke’s presence was still causing hardships for Naruto, but for some reason, Naruto continued to seek out Sasuke. As his best friend, comrade, and prisoner who had come to term with his deeds, Sasuke was going to protect the blonde, no matter how hard Naruto fought back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I apologize for that, which is why I need you to focus on yourself and the village. You’re putting your life on pause again because of me” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I’m not Sasuke. I’m moving to the next thing that's happening in my life, and I’m finally dealing with it with you by my side” Naruto argued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I me-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto cut Sasuke off a second time “This is going to help me with becoming Hokage and the village. I’m protecting them from this new and unknown threat. Don’t try to make this all about me either, you’ll be helping out the village too. Isn’t that what you’re after, redemption?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t feel the need to have me there with you Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fucking Christ Sasuke, you’ve come finally back, of course I’m going to want you to be apart of Konoha again” Naruto frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave Naruto a blank look, he still didn’t understand. Sasuke scoffed before he tried to turn over so his back would be towards Naruto and he could finally get the sleep he craved. However before he could move, Naruto shot out and grabbed Sasuke’s arms and put them over his head preventing the raven from moving. Sasuke struggled again the hold, growling at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re not done with this conversation” Naruto said sternly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I am. Let me go” Sasuke said as he struggled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. You always do this! You never want to talk” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s the point of talking when you never listen! I tell you the same thing over and over again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How do you expect me to listen to you if you don’t listen to me!” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dammit Naruto let go of me” Sasuke shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No! Talk to me you bastard”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just did!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto placed Sasuke’s wrists into a single grip and used his free hand to grab Sasuke’s jaw, he began to lower his face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, Nonono. Don’t you dare try and kiss me again!” Sasuke said, jerking his head to the right to escape the closeness of Naruto’s face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto forced Sasuke to look at him again, hand now even former on the pale jaw “It’s not like I want to, this is the only way to get you to listen to me and make you stop moving. Besides, you started it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Sasuke had the chance to retort even more, Naruto harshly smashed his lips into Sasuke’s, lips bruising slightly after the rough impact. Again Sasuke tried to turn his head, but Naruto had a firm grip on the side of Sasuke’s jaw. This new movement allowed Naruto to jam his tongue inside Sasuke’s mouth, Sasuke made a noise at the new sensation of having Naruto's tongue explore his mouth. Sasuke bit down hard on Naruto’s lip, the blonde made a painful noise. He released his mouth from Sasuke’s </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck...ow</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto said as he let go of the hold on Sasuke’s wrists and touched his pained bottom lip. If he bit down any harder, Naruto was sure he would have broken the skin</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wiped his mouth in the back of his hand, a glare dull a furry aimed at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Teme</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto scowled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fucking Usuratonkachi</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke ended, finally turning his body away from the blonde for good. Although Sasuke wouldn’t say out loud how concerned he was that these angry-based kisses were starting to become a usual thing between them. They needed to find another way to release their anger, this was another thing beginning to get strange….</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i love me some ANGST. </p><p>YALL WATCH THE LAST EPISODE OF AOT? A PART TWO BRUH????? I MEAN I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AND I'M WAITING ON THE LAST CHAPTER BUT THIS IS WILD-</p><p>anyways comment &amp; kudos MUAH MUAH MUAH 💞</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto’s mouth watered at the bowl of ramen in front of him. He gave a quick thanks for his meal, split apart his chopsticks, and slurped his ramen. It was less than a minute when Naruto had already finished his first bowl, he held it to his favorite chef for a second round. The old man happily refilled it and Naruto got right back to work </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My Naruto, it feels like we haven’t seen you in ages” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I knowwww</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’ve been caught up in so many missions. And whenever I come back it’s either too late or Kakashi is pulling my tail” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi is doing what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde jumped out of his seat as the Hokage suddenly appeared over his shoulder, Naruto still hated that the white-haired Shinobi did that</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could have spilled my ramen!” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Serves you right for trash talking your old teacher, your Hokage at that!” Kakashi smirked, although he placed his own order of ramen was grateful when he received his bowl</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s true” Naruto said as he slurped his noodles loudly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So how was the mission, since you so humbly decided to put your hunger over-reporting back to me first” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d choose ramen over anything” Naruto threw at the Hokage “The mission...could have gone better” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Kakashi had to choose their words carefully, they were in a public setting and anything Sasuke related was strictly sensitive and confidential</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I went to the place, I saw the thing, but I couldn’t bring anything back” Naruto tried to explain as best as he could </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luckily, Kakashi could read in between the lines and vague words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see. But you did manage to spot it” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded “Yeah, it was just like the one at Gara’s. But I found something else” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Something else?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A fellow Shinobi found another one, in the place where I first found the thing” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi paused, he set down his chopsticks against his bowl. His attention now completely focused on the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This one was all leaves, gave off the same feeling apparently” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And the one of the mission?” Kakashi inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just like Grandma Tsunade said. Just mist and I couldn’t get a sample. But I was able to make it go away” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi thought about this deeply, not only was there one that was first seen by Gara and then the one Lady Tsunade saw, but now Sasuke came across one on their own land </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This meal was certainly delicious, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to steal Naruto away from you Ichiraku” Kakashi smiled at the older man, he took out his wallet to pay for both their meals</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto knew his former Sensei meant business, he had the serious look that showed it The blonde waved goodbye to the older man of the ramen shop and took off walking with Kakashi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Sasuke came across one” Kakashi spoke quietly as they walked through the village, opting to walk through the much more empty paths </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he said he was walking near the place where I told him I first saw the strange chakra. But he didn’t find the rocks or flowers, just a monster made of leaves that was powered by that same chakra” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a total of 3 sightings of these chakra-powered monsters…” The Hokage thought out loud “And you sensed the same strange chakra amongst them?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well for the Sand and Mist one yeah, I didn’t see the one Sasuke faced off against, but Sasuke said the chakra felt very powerful and strange. He even said it felt weirdly familiar too!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good to know. Mind explaining why you couldn’t get a piece of it” Kakashi teased </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like I didn’t try!” Naruto huffed “But it’s mist! We can’t exactly touch it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose not” Kakashi sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Sasuke came up with an interesting theory. He said that it only seems to attack me and hold back on him” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, he fixed his gaze on the blonde, urging Naruto to go on with such a claim </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hear me out, we talked about this seriously. With the Gara incident, we think the creature just attacked Gara because it didn’t know any better. But when I came, it launched offensive attacks on me. When Sasuke came across the leaf creature, it didn’t attack him. And when we came across the mist monster, I hid away from it to launch a surprise attack. So it only saw Sasuke and it didn’t do anything” Naruto reported </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What had these two stumbled across, this didn’t make any sense to Kakashi. It sounded like these creatures had Naruto and Sasuke as their targets. But why, just where were these things coming from? And what or who is powering these things? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It plausible to think these things are after you, you two have become quite notable figures, especially after the war” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It does make sense in a way, but there are still so many things we don’t know. I know I messed up by not being able to get any samples of that weird chakra. But we have Gara’s, and that’s definitely gonna give us the start we need to finally get to the bottom of this” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right. In the meantime, we just have to take active steps on our part and try to do anything we can to figure this out” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Speaking of Gara, have you’ve told him about this? Or are you planning to” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not just yet, we still don’t know anything about these things. All we have are theories and we’re heavily relying on Gara for his report about the sand creature” Kakashi spoke “At least we know there’s a Mist one. How’d you take it down?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“We based our attack on our experience with the sand monster. I used my Rasengan to weaken it a lot, then Sasuke finished it off with</span> <span>Amaterasu” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well at least we know how to take these things down. Which is weird considering how you guys keep saying the chakra feels really powerful...” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded in understanding “We wondered the same thing. Anyways, Sasuke said I should tell you all this and form a squad to go back to the sights and see if we can find them again”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s actually not a bad idea. If we find them a second time, not only will we get confirmation that there’s more or that they can rejuvenate somehow. I’m sure we’ll have Gara’s report back so we can add to it once we get samples from all of them. I’ll send you, Sakura, and Sai on this mission then” Kakashi instructed </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well actually…” Naruto started “I don’t think the squads are necessary. I can do this with just Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised an eyebrow “Is that so?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, only me and Sasuke can actually sense this chakra out. And it seems like only our combined attacks can defeat it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Naruto but I can’t allow Sasuke to go with you” Kakashi said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And why not?” Naruto said as he furrowed his eyebrows</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke is a prisoner in case you forgot” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But he-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised his hand to cut Naruto off from speaking </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can’t keep bringing along Sasuke to whatever you want Naruto. He can’t just move around that easily and freely, you are aware of the risk” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto balled his fist up in frustration, the white-haired man was beginning to sound like the raven bastard “But I’m not doing this like we’re hanging out! This is a serious mission that we both have stakes in”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The only reason Sasuke is involved in this is because you got him involved” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-Sensei are you seriously going to act surprised? I lost my teammate for so many years and now that he’s back you don’t really expect me to just not do anything with him” Naruto argued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I understand the sentiment, I really do. It’s for this exact feeling that you have is why I’ve been allowing you to go see Sasuke even though nobody is allowed to see him” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t all just me okay...I’m not the only one who wants to see him. The village deserves to see their war hero. If not, at the very least you can let Sakura in on where he is too. She’s not just another team member on Team 7, you out of anyone should know how much Sakura cares about Sasuke. You know she’s hurting from seeing Sasuke leave again too” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto this isn’t about who deserves to see Sasuke or not. He has committed acts that cannot be ignored. If you want to argue this on a more sentimental level fine. This is what Sasuke chose to do to atone for his actions, this is what he chose to do to personally deal with all his actions and reflect them in a manner in which is both comfortable to him and suits the punishment we agreed he would carry out” Kakashi said sternly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But he’s not some lonesome criminal dammit! Yeah he did some bad things, but that was because he was blinded by hate for so long. You heard what he said, he gave up that path. Him being alone isn’t going to do anything to repay for his sins or whatever you guys are saying. Believe me, as his best friend, keeping him in isolation isn’t doing any him favors. And if he really wants to make up for his past action, he’ll be doing it by helping out with this mission” Naruto growled</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi gave another deep sigh, the blonde’s determination and persistence could be such a bother at times. The Sixth Hokage knew Naruto’s heart was in the right place, but because of that, Naruto was also blinded by his feelings and wanted to keep this image of Sasuke in his mind as justification to keep seeing him and a motive to protect him even more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Naruto, I just can’t allow it. There are too many risks, we’ve already stressed enough risks by me letting you see him for these past days” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I’m sorry too. I’m not gonna stop seeing him and we’re gonna do this mission together” Naruto said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t you listen? I’m telling you this because it’s what’s best” Kakashi snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Best for what? I’m not doing anything wrong! Sure we argue” Naruto said, blushing slightly as he remembered all the things their anger has led to “But we get things done. If it weren’t for our combined efforts, we would have never seen or taken down these monsters. We’re not being reckless either! It’s not like I’m yelling to the world that I have an ex-rogue ninja with me. We’re comrades Kakashi-Sensei, we protect each other and work well with each other. I have to do this mission with him and I refuse to stop seeing him. We just barely have within our reach again, I’m not going to push him out just because he wanted to be separated” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi looked at the frustrated boy in front of him, he had argued passionately for his cause once again. Naruto was so concerned with Sasuke, it was almost as bad as when they were still hunting down the Uchiha for the first time. The future Hokage made some reasonable and logical points in his arguments, but how could Kakashi really justify his allowance for Naruto to continue seeing Konoha’s top prisoner. But there were so many lurking dangers if he continued this exchange...Naruto still held the determined look on his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi crossed his arms “I will allow your meeting with Sasuke to continue. </span>
  <em>
    <span>However,</span>
  </em>
  <span> this is strictly for the purpose of this mission. You will continue to keep Sasuke’s location and activities a secret from anyone else, this includes Sakura. Anything you two do or discover in the mission is to be reported by me only. Your main objective to pinpoint these chakra-powered monsters again and make sure you get a sample. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Also</span>
  </em>
  <span>, if Sasuke wishes to disagree with this mission or choose to not be apart of it because he feels it doesn’t go along with his atonement journey, you are to respect his choice and report back here for reconfiguration of the mission. Do I make myself absolutely clear?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal” Naruto nodded eagerly “Can we really not tell Sakura?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, we would just be adding to the already long list of risk that comes with coming and conducting activities with Sasuke. That’s why I’m urging you not to take this lightly, this is a highly classified shinobi mission” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I understand” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me ask you this one thing Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do continue to chase after Sasuke?” Kakashi asked him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not chasing him ya know. He’s here now, and because I keep seeing him and refusing to let him run away from us again, I’m not going after him anymore. I’m just making sure he knows that he’s still apart of Konoha and part of Team 7. Most importantly, he doesn’t need to be alone anymore, his best friend is with him all the way” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yuhhhh plot building🤪 Naruto really said “Your opinion was not needed♥️”  IM SO EXCITED FOR YALL TO SEE THESE NEXT CHAPTERSSSSSSSS</p><p>So my dumbass slipped down the stairs today and I have a big ass bruise now🤝 who do it like me? 💅🏻</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS 😘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sun was shining bright today, not a single cloud was seen in the bright blue sky </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto walked through the forest, normally he would hop through the trees given the long distance. But today, Naruto opted to walk the long way, the weather was nice and he was in a good mood</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi allowed Naruto to continue his visits with Sasuke, even though it was strictly for the mission. When was Naruto one to really follow the rules anyway...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hummed as he walked through the forest, making his way to that hideout he’d found himself frequenting so often </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That’s weird</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto should be able to sense Sasuke’s chakra by now, maybe he still had a ways to go, he didn’t have the </span>
  <em>
    <span>greatest</span>
  </em>
  <span> sense of direction </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No this was definitely the way to the hideout </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then why couldn’t he sense Sasuke’s chakra? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto quickened his pace, growing a little worried about the lack of the raven’s presence. Once he arrived at the hideout, he ran straight into the place in search of his teammate. He looked around the dark hideout, he couldn’t sense Sasuke anywhere. He walked and looked through the various rooms, his bed was made in the empty bedroom, the kitchen looked undisturbed, and all the other rooms were unused or empty as well. However, Naruto noticed a couple of things were missing from the simple pantry. He also noticed in the room where Sasuek kept the more tactical supplies, looked as if some were missing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke must have left </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And the bastard didn’t tell him anything </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto frowned at the thought of Sasuke wandering alone again, thinking about his past and blaming guilt on himself. Naruto hated the idea of Sasuke doing that with no one to tell him how wrong he is, that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He was also mad that Sasuke didn’t even bother telling him where he was, he promised to write to Naruto more! Kakashi-Sensei didn’t even say anything about Sasuke being somewhere other than the hideout, although he wasn’t on the best terms with the Hokage right now... </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wondered if he should just stay until Sasuke came back, but how long would that take? What does someone do on a redemption journey? Does it take a long time? Days? Weeks? Months? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made an irritated sound, he couldn’t believe Sasuke took off without a single word. This is just like…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had said he wasn’t running anymore </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Naruto believed that</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even if he didn’t like it, and he really didn’t, Sasuke was Naruto’s best friend and his well-being would always be important to him. He would respect whatever personal endeavor Sasuke was on for his punishment if it was that important to Sasuke.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto found a little piece of paper and pen in the hideout and wrote a little note to the Uchiha </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Stopped by, actually write me when ya come back teme - N</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With one final look at the hideout, Naruto began to make his way back outside. He looked up at the sky, the sky wasn’t as bright anymore. Clouds had begun to cover the sun and he definitely was not in a good mood </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did someone eat your last ramen cup?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked up from where he sat on the edge of the Hokage’s cliff</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No? Why ask such a silly question?” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look so down” Iruka said as he walked closer to the blonde, standing next to him as they looked over the village together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine” Naruto said, trying to hide the fact that he felt the exact opposite</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka only glanced at the boy “What have you’ve been up to lately? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not much, just going on missions Kakashi-sensei sends me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I thought I told him to take it easy on the missions…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Iruka told himself “Well in any case, you never were one to just sit still and do nothing” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughed lightly at his former teacher’s words, it seemed like everyone saw the childish spirit was still very much present within Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How is Hokage studying going” Iruka asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just studying and reading, that’s so boring” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That comes with the job, I thought you were so keen on becoming Hokage” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am, I just didn’t expect it to involve this much book stuff” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know what they say, be careful what you wish for” Iruka teased </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you might just get it and see it go away again….” Naruto spoke to himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, where did that come from?” Iruka said as he raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto blushed, he didn’t realize he just said that out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing! It’s just an old saying I hear too” Naruto tried to quickly lie again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure? You’re kind of acting stra-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said I’m fine!” Naruto said as he cut Iruka off sharply, the older man just put up his hands in surrender  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just asking. I want to make sure you’re doing alright. Especially after the war and everything” Iruka said, trying to put the Sasuke situation lightly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you are, sorry it must be the missions that have me worked up” Naruto said, turning his gaze back to look over the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The missions huh?” Iruka repeated, slightly unconvinced</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In that case, I’ll just tell Kakashi to lighten the load up for you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is there some special privilege you have over him now?” Naruto said with a small smile as his old teacher blushed fiercely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-No, he respects my opinion just as any other shinobi in Konoha” Iruka flustered “He’ll just be more attentive because it’s about you. You’re his favorite you know, even if he’s not allowed to show special treatment. But it’s true” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heh, and all this time I thought his favorite was Sasuke” Naruto said with a small sigh as he mentioned the raven “And as if Kakashi-sensei would really stop giving me missions, or stop be from going on them” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Point made” Iruka chuckled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m alright Iruka-sensei, just busy” Naruto smiled, he was slowly getting better at lying unfortunately, given how often he had to do it now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto couldn’t read the expression Iruka gave him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older man reached out and ruffled the boy’s blonde hair</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, stay safe and continue your studies” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grumbled at the action and tried to fix his hair “Yeah yeah I will” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde heard the footsteps of his old teacher slowly fade away, he looked over the village again. The sun was beginning to set </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Did he really spend the whole day moping over Sasuke? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a small growl, he still couldn’t believe the raven left without telling him. But he was still trying to get around the idea of letting Sasuke have his little self-reflecting journey </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He hoped he was okay. Would Sasuke be back by now? Maybe Naruto should go back to the hideout just to make sure…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell? Since when did Naruto get this worried about Sasuke again? He needed to stop, all they did was argue….and do other stuff that Naruto didn’t like to think about</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Quite honestly that was still so strange to him, how one second they would be on the brink of reaching the deep end of their arguments, </span>
  <em>
    <span>then they would do things</span>
  </em>
  <span>. At first, Naruto didn’t understand why they did this. Their first two kisses were by accident as kids, as much as Naruto was embarrassed by it, it happened and Naruto was so sure they were positively never going to happen again. But then they’ve done it an extra three times, were they accidents? Naruto just thought it was a way for them to stop fighting, considering Sasuke gave it up and all, that was definitely one way to get them from fighting. Then they fucked, and it was just pure fury that fueled that little moment they had. Despite being caught up in their anger, </span>
  <em>
    <span>why did they allow themselves to go that far….</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto Uzumaki!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde snapped out of his deep thought, a hand waving in front of his face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura-chan?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah it’s me” Sakura chuckled “I was calling your name for like two minutes. You must have been thinking real hard. That’s a first…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess I was” Naruto blinked up at the girl “What are you doing here?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Iruka-Sensei told me to come and check up on you” Sakura answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grumbled, his pesky sensei still treated him like he was a child, sometimes it felt like he was his mother or something</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What were you thinking about?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing? If you couldn’t even hear me calling your name then it couldn’t have been just nothing” Sakura said as she sat beside Naruto on the cliff</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I’d tell you if anythings wrong Sakura” Naruto told his teammate, hoping he was faking enough sincerity to throw Sakura off his tail too</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t one to push directly. She believed she knew what Naruto was thinking about, she wondered if she could coax him into telling her if she herself were honest too</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you would Naruto, then let me tell you what’s been on my mind” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course. I’m here to listen” Naruto said, this was a true statement </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura rested her chin in her hand as she looked over the cliff, her legs dangling over the edge. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto had to keep his shocked reaction masked, he hoped he didn’t give off any indication that his mind distracted by the same person </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How come?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just wonder about him... Where is he? Is he okay? What’s he doing? If he ever thinks about us? I feel like a kid again, going through the same emotions and thoughts when he first left” Sakura sighed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto remained silent, guilt was beginning to build inside him. Both from having the same worries and thoughts over the raven, but to some degree he actually knew some of those answers. He wasn’t completely in the dark as Sakura was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I probably shouldn’t say that though. He’s back and he’s a new person. He told me he would just be away for a while, he told me that in the jail. And I just know he’s keeping his word” Sakura said “That still doesn’t mean I just forget about him and completely move on”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I get that” Naruto simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re allowed to think about him, this is hard on everyone, especially us. We may have that small comfort of knowing he’s back as a true Konoha Shinobi and left that dark path he once was lost in, but I just hope he would really be back with us. It’s been years…” Sakura said as she looked into blue eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto put a comforting hand on the pink-haired girl’s shoulder “I know it’s hard. But we just have to remember that this is what Sasuke wanted and this was the right thing to do in order to deal with all the things he did” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura’s eyes widened slightly “Wow Naruto, I’m honestly surprised you’ve been so mature about this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If only Sakura knew that Naruto lying straight through his teeth </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe me, it was hard to accept” Naruto chuckled nervously </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know it is, I’m still struggling myself in case it wasn’t already obvious” Sakura joked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll get there Sakura. This time you can fully heal now that we know Sasuke’s back on our side and we aren’t hunting him down” Naruto joked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This caused the girl to laugh lightly “I know I know, geez it feels so weird having you speaking all wise now. Maybe you really are meant to be Hokage” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Heyyy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’ve always been wise!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure you have” Sakura laughed again “Easier said than done. It’s so hard because I just…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just…” Naruto pushed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just love him so much.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto swears all the breath was knocked out of his lungs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Love him?” Naruto said “That’s a pretty serious statement ya know” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura looked at the village, it looked so beautiful cast in the warm orange glow that came with the sunset. She wished Sasuke was here to see it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I mean it. I really do Naruto, and can you blame me? My heart longs for him, and now that he’s back...it still doesn't feel like he is. He might have told me he was leaving this time, but that still doesn’t make this any easier” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God, this was yet another consequence of Sasuke’s absence, Sakura was left once again to suffer emotionally. And worse of all, she had confessed her love for Sasuke to Naruto. Naruto couldn’t just sit with this and do nothing about it. He felt so guilty, he knew where Sasuke was. He had the luxury of spending time and talking with the raven, and as much as he advocated against it, Sakura was completely clueless about his whereabouts. He also felt guilty at the fact that he had done the most intimate act with Sasuke, although, did it really count if they were both bad and repulsed at each other. That didn’t matter right now, he really wished he could tell Sakura the truth </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure he’s doing fine. He’ll come back eventually” Naruto said, he was going to make that last statement a reality </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...You’re right” Sakura sighed  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sasuke did ours mans Naruto dirty, he really said 🏃🏻♂️💨</p><p>yall feeling bad for Sakura???👀</p><p>So I'm like almost done with Demon Slayer and tbhhh I really like it, I can see why it's a popular anime. ALSO @ MY SEVEN DEADLY SINS STANS, DOESNT BAN REMIND YOU OF HIDAN??? I KNOW IM NOT THE ONLY ONE BRUH </p><p>comment &amp; kudos &lt;333</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto said he wasn’t going to think about him anymore</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He said he was going to respect Sasuke’s space and self-journey </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He wasn’t going to worry, he knew Sasuke was strong, he was going to be fine</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was going to keep his promise</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Besides he was still angry that Sasuke took off without any word </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke didn’t keep promises </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So he wasn’t going to think about Sasuke anymore </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He also wasn’t going to admit how happy he was when he sensed Sasuke’s chakra as he traveled to the hideout, completely ignoring everything he told himself</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once he reached the hideout, he practically stormed inside. He was met with Sasuke’s back, who was looking like he was reading on his kitchen table </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m surprised you didn’t break in this time” Sasuke said “How kind of you to leave a note though” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I actually tell people things” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After trespassing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was just looking for you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should stop doing that, getting kind of old don’t you think” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“God I hate you” Naruto said as he sat down next to the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Feelings mutual” Sasuke lazily threw back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least I left a note, you said you would write to me” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...That one time when I asked you to try and find the chakra” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly” Sasuke said “Besides, you don’t need to know where I’m at every second of the day” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not that, I just want to know that you’re okay” Naruto said as he rolled his eyes </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you promised me that you wouldn’t worry about me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not worrying! I just…” Naruto struggled to explain himself</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right” Sasuke simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not! If I really was worried about you I could have gone after you or something” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t act like it didn’t cross your mind. And you’re here right now aren’t you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto crossed his arms, knowing it was exactly true “I didn’t ya bastard” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke hummed, returning his attention back to his book. Naruto didn’t like that one bit, Sasuke still tried to shut himself out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So where’d you go?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said you didn’t need to know” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you go on another atonement mission?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not your business” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m taking that as a yes! What village? What’d you do?” Naruto rambled on </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke flicked the boy beside him, the blonde crying out at the action </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Owww</span>
  </em>
  <span>, stop doing that!” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It works when I want to shut you up, or would you prefer if I kissed you again?” Sasuke teased </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s cheeks began to turn red “Gross, absolutely not. You’re the one who started it!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You left me no choice, I gave up fighting, especially with you dobe. I had to use other effective methods” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s that what you call sex now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now Sasuke’s face turned a bright red, he saw Naruto smiled evilly at this. Sasuke wasn’t going to let the blonde have one over him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please I did you a favor, you’ve probably never done it before” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stayed silent, face impossibly red right now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No way</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that was your first time? That’s hilarious” Sasuke laughed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto grumbled</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know if I’m honored or sad to have been your first everything” Sasuke said dryly, causing the blonde to get even more flustered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The same goes for you ya know” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stopped laughing and blushed harder “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Whatever</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>How the hell did they get to this point? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways” Naruto coughed “Just tell me where you went” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine” Sasuke said, not wanting to have another awkward conversation again, the blonde just didn’t know when to stop prying “I was just traveling up North for a bit” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Doing what?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just thinking” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto blinked “That’s it? That’s what you didn’t want to write or tell me about” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geez would it kill you to be a little more open”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It might, you’re pretty reckless”  Sasuke responded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto scowled at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that so secretive? You can literally do that by coming back to the village” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t start this Naruto…” Sasuke warned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke you keep trying to avoid the village by saying you’re doing all these things that you can literally do back in the village. It just doesn’t make sense!” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke chose to block the blonde by reading his book</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You always say I’m being selfish for wanting you back. But you’re the one being so  inconsiderate by not coming to the village! I’m not the only one that chased after you, Sakura did too” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I already told you about Sakura” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you just hear me out? You don’t even know the full story, how could you, you’re never around” Naruto said angrily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke swallowed thickly, it seemed like Naruto always managed to make his guilt arise as if he didn’t know, as if the entire reason he secluded himself wasn’t because of his actions and how much he didn’t want anyone suffering because of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She cares about you...so much...she….” Naruto looked at Sasuke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sakura loves you.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven slammed his book closed, startling the blonde at the unexpected harsh movements </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guilt trapping me isn’t going to work” Sasuke said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck off with that, it’s the truth. She confessed to me all her true feelings for you, she loves you. After all these years and stuff you did, she managed to still love you and is waiting for you to actually come back to her. Why don’t you think about that Sasuke?” Naruto yelled at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you want me to say Naruto?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That you’ll at least come back for her!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t share the same sentiment. I never told her to develop feelings for me” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, how could you say that, especially with Sakura” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke simply scoffed that, this sparked Naruto’s temper. Naruto shot up from where he sat </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can’t even come back after she expressed her underlying for you. She’s our friend, your friend, and the person who cares about you so much more than anyone else. You should have seen her Sasuke, how much she worries about you, but she’s holding it in because she wanted to respect your wishes” Naruto said as he angrily peered down at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke soon raised from his seated position, his cold and dark mismatched eyes meeting the blue ones “I’m not going back just because of someone’s feelings. If you agree with Sakura’s thoughts then you should do the same thing as her and respect my space” </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke inched his face closer to Naruto’s, his eyes dark </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Interesting how you could accuse me of being such a terrible friend when you just sat there and listened to her confess her apparent feelings knowing you fucked and kissed me in your secret visits with me</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde felt his anger take its full form, he was sure Karuma was thriving on it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto slammed his hand into the table, pressing his chest against Sasuke’s “You bastard…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Blinking, Sasuke realized he might maybe have pushed Naruto just a little too far, he toned the harshness in his voice down  “I’m telling you the truth Naruto, you know I am”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe. Sure” Naruto’s eyes were on Sasuke now, forcing him to maintain the gaze. “That still doesn’t mean you have to be heartless about her love for you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t read her mind, I never told her to fall in love with me”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was apparently the wrong thing to say because Naruto outright growled “That’s not the fucking point Sasuke!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You both are wasting your time with me all over again” The answer was out before he could stop it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sucked in a breath like he’d been hit in the gut “No...don’t you ever say that again….” He shook his head “Dammit Sasuke”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the reality of the situation Naruto” Sasuke barreled on “This is the exact reason why I’ve told you so just leave me alone and forget about m-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto surged forward and seized the front of Sasuke’s shirt and for one panicked moment, Sasuke was concerned, he really did want to fight Naruto. But to his surprise, the blonde yanked him close and latched their lips together</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they broke apart, both boys were panting</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you ever say that to me again” Naruto repeated, this time in a low snarl. But he couldn’t say more, not without tilting into areas that they constantly argued about. Instead, he started to fumble with his clothes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto...” Sasuke’s eyes were a little wild, he knew where this was leading. It seemed like this was the only way they could release their pent up fury they caused each other without resorting to physically fighting </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll shut you up using our other method, right Sasuke?” Naruto reminded him, viciously yanking of Sasuke’s own clothes completely “And right now, it’s either continuing to scream at you or fuck you, and I’m choosing the same thing we did the first time. The first time you did it Uchiha” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Usuratonkachi” Sasuke scowled weakly, refusing to fully acknowledge his growing feeling of arousal at the fuming blonde. He started to peel the rest of Naruto’s clothes off for him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both now completely undressed, Naruto seized Sasuke around the waist and lifted him, slamming his back against the kitchen table. Sasuke immediately wrapped his legs around Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you handle it a little rough?” Naruto asked. He quickly stuck his tan digits in his mouth, slicking up his fingers and already searching for Sasuke’s hole</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah” Sasuke managed to get out, leaning his head back against the table “Just hurry up” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up” Naruto spat, he wasn’t taking his time prepping Sasuke. He only had his two fingers inside the pale man, he didn’t particularly care about preparing him that well right now, they were once again blinded by pure anger </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grabbed his cock with his slick hand and positioned himself carefully, then slid inside Sasuke slowly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck...</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto breathed as he buried himself deeper into Sasuke, feeling the intense heat. “Goddamn, you feel so fucking good for me Sas’”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke groaned, twitching his hips to take Naruto deeper. It was an almost painful stretch. Naruto wasn’t small and wasn’t being gentle, the anger was obviously still there, but it felt far too good to stop</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ah...Naruto...ahhh</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke’s pale hands latched on Naruto’s shoulders and dug his nails in the tan flesh “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>go harder”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine... I’ll show you just how mad you make me for being so fucking difficult” Naruto leaned forward, pinning Sasuke firmly against the table, and started thrusting. He wasn’t holding back. His hands were tight on Sasuke’s hips, creating bruises on the pale hip bones as he drove up into him. Sasuke moaned helplessly as the relentless thrusts sped up</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re so fucking mean”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then leave me alone if you don’t like it” Sasuke tried to get out, being too drowned in his own pleasure </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smirked “Nope, you know I can’t do that” He buried himself even deeper inside Sasuke, practically slamming against his entrance, holding him there</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know why?” Naruto pressed closer until he was breathing in Sasuke’s ear “Because you’re not a waste of time”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck Naruto ahhh</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke moaning, squirming to get Naruto to continue</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I need you to understand that” Naruto continued, licking Sasuke’s ear softly “I’m never letting you get away from me again, I’ll always go after you teme”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes widened, gaping at him, utterly at a loss for words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You got that Sasuke”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-Yes”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A quick search of his eyes and Naruto nodded before resuming his almost brutal pace. Sasuke cried out, his eyes rolling back. Naruto didn’t stop, pounding all his frustration and desperation into Sasuke, clinging hard to him and whimpering himself as he raced toward orgasm</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke beat him there by mere seconds, his body tightening around Naruto’s cock as his own spurted between them. The sensation pushed Naruto over the edge and he spilled into Sasuke, filling the shaking raven man with his seed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They remained there panting together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell got into you?” Sasuke breathed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did I hurt you?” Naruto asked in a low voice. He’d dropped his head to Sasuke’s shoulder when he came and didn’t lift it now. He wasn’t sure he could make eye contact at the moment, he did get a little carried away...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, of course not.” Sasuke wiggled experimentally. Yeah, he’d be sore but the good kind of sore, he thought, just like the last time they did it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You okay?” Sasuke added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah” Naruto said as he nodded his head against Sasuke’s shoulder. He wasn’t actually sure, that depended a lot on whether Sasuke took what he’d said seriously because for all it had been in the heat of the moment and pushed by anger, Naruto had meant every word. He refused to let Sasuke slip away from him and Konoha again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sensing all was not right, maybe it was guilt triggered again by Naruto's words that caused Sasuke cupped a hand around the back of Naruto’s neck “I heard you dobe, maybe one day you’ll actually listen to me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think ya did” Naruto chuckled softly, almost too quietly to hear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you ever just listen to when someone is trying to tell you something important?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do I need to shut you up again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke used the hand that he had resting on the back of Naruto’s neck and pushed his head to connect their lips once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Beat you to it idiot” Sasuke smirked, Naruto’s anger came back as he furiously kissed the pale man even more </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>whewwwwwwwwwww🥵</p><p>N E WAYS.....i think imma buy the primitive x dbz slides cuz I love Goku Black very very very much and I need a new pair🤝😌</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS MY LOVES💞</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was the day after and Naruto’s body still felt worn out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swears he must have thrown his back out while shutting up the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He still doesn’t know what came over him, he tried to blame that passionate anger on Kuruma, but the fox insisted this had absolutely nothing to do with him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yesterday, Naruto was absolutely enraged at Sasuke, he was saying all these nasty things and that just set Naruto on fire. They weren’t physically fighting anymore, but they had to get physical some other way he guessed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This was the second time they fucked, and Naruto knows they shouldn’t be doing this. First of all, he was doing this behind Sakura’s back. He was doing this sacred act of a relationship carelessly and angrily knowing Sakura’s true feelings for Sasuke. He was feeling guilty sure, but for some reason he didn’t say anything to stop them from doing this stuff. The kisses, the sex, he wasn’t going to lie and say he didn’t like it...</span>
  <em>
    <span>so why did they keep doing it? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the caw of a bird above where he stood over the bridge. He held his arm out for it, the bird landed on his orange sleeve, a little piece of paper attached to its leg. He carefully grabbed the piece of paper and let the bird fly free, he unfolded it to read the contents inside </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I’ll be gone for 3 days, don’t break-in again -S</em>
  </b>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bastard had written him, well he supposed he made his point very clear after yesterday. He honestly didn’t think the raven would listen as stubborn as he was, but he did</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s mood was instantly lifted, I guess he could play nice and leave Sasuke alone for those three days, he was a man of his words too</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde walked happily through the village, actually looking forward to being stuck in the library again to study for his Hokage duties. Naruto was caught up in his good mood that he didn’t even realize he bumped into someone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! My bad Hinata” Naruto said as he leaned down to help the small girl off the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geez Naruto, watch where you’re walking next time” Kiba said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay Naruto, it was just an accident” Hinata smiled, dusting herself off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t see where I was walking” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No kidding, you looked like you were on cloud nine” Kiba chuckled “What’s got you in a good mood” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously and laughed “How can I not? The village is nice and calm, and all is well” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nah nah, I know that mood” Kiba smirked “That’s the look you get when you got some” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-What?” Hinata blushed, eye wide at Kiba’s brashness </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get your mind out the gutter” Naruto muttered, his owns cheeks tinting pink</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha! I knew it, so who was the lucky girl?” Kiba asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kiba! Stop it you’re being completely inappropriate!” Hinata scolded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose as the War Hero you have the ladies all over you now huh?” Kiba joked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“T-That’t not true! Right Naruto” Hinata asked, eyes wide </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Defintely not true!” Naruto said as he crossed his arms. It definitely wasn’t true, Naruto didn’t have any girls pinning after him. He didn’t get lucky with any girl….he just had another angry fucking session with an ex-rogue ninja, as if he’d tell these two that.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Did he really look that happy that his body showed signs of just having sex, damn Kiba for being able to notice</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see you don’t kiss and tell” Kiba laughed “Well hopefully it was good” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kiba-kun!” Hinata shouted, face absolutely red from horror </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perv” Naruto threw at the browned haired boy</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah Yeah, I’ll see you later. C’mon Hinata, let’s go get Akamaru” Kiba said as he began walking away</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata gave one worried look at Naruto, in case Kiba’s inappropriate comments were true “Take care, Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two team members continued their errand, the blonde only let out a sigh of relief. Did he really look that good in a mood? What made it different, he was always in a pretty happy mood. He refused to admit that Sasuke put him in a good mood...but just to make sure, when he got to the library he would look up if a glow after sex was a real thing…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto had to be careful now. Even though those two had no way of knowing where Sasuke and what he was doing, that was too close a call for his liking. Seriously though, what </span>
  <em>
    <span>were </span>
  </em>
  <span>they doing? Even before he was officially allowed to see Sasuke for this mission, they were messing around. Naruto has been blaming all their actions on their anger, just being caught up in the heat of passion. But why did he allow them to reach that point, kissing on its own was gross, Naruto still shuddered at the memories. But then they jumped headfirst into the deep end and had sex, Naruto wasn’t exactly thrilled to have his first time with an angry raven. But then again, he liked the way they moved together. Sure the bastard was the first person he had sex with, but it felt amazing. As if their bodies were the only ones that could handle the power of the two powerful shinobi. All the anger and unexpressed words they couldn’t say was all understood when they laid together. They should really stop, this wasn’t something they should do. Naruto was already on dangerous ground just by seeing Sasuke, but they were doing things that he’s seen people only in relationships do. They were far from any relationship as if Naruto would want </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> type of relationship with the grumpy shinobi. Naruto was the one pushed so hard for them to be good friends again, Naruto believed Sasuke was still his best friend. But even best friends don’t just fuck whenever they get in an argument. Naruto also had another best friend, one who actually had feelings for Sasuke. And not only was Naruto seeing Sasuke, but they were doing intimate things. He was betraying Sakura, both my being selfish and doing these things knowing the pink-haired girl’s devotion towards the Uchiha</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto shook his head, he was overthinking this, how many times does he have to tell himself he needs to stop thinking about this situation, and Sasuke in general. It was starting to affect him, if he didn’t be careful he was going to have another incident like the one with Kiba-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Watch out Naruto!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto snapped right out of his thoughts and stopped dead in his tracks, when he finally got back to the present he was met a tall pile of books</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“One more step and you would have knocked all my book” Sai said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My bad Sai, I just didn’t watch where I was walking...again” Naruto muttered to himself, he didn’t even realize he was making his way to the library, he didn’t even see Sai! Yeah, he needed to stop thinking about Sasuke….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s quite alright, you appeared to be preoccupied” Sai paused “In fact, you look as if you just had sex!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up Sai….</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto yawned as he picked up the last book from his pile, his eyes were beginning to strain. He was supposed to be studying his usual Hokage content, but today he decided to study something else in the library. He grabbed all the books he could about Chakra and Chakra natures, he was going to put a little more effort on his part to get this problem solved. He was so determined that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>willingly</span>
  </em>
  <span> went to the library to study chakra. As determined as he was, he went through dozens of books and found nothing useful, he was down to his last book, his hope and patience slowly beginning to die down. As he read through the last book, he was about to throw in the towel when a specific text caught his eyes, he read closely</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“A shinobi is bound to come across all types of chakras, each offering its own feeling and power. Although this detail regarding chakra is often overlooked, sensory-special and chakra-sensitive shinobis should be cautioned about the various chakras. Especially with unknown or abnormal chakras. Within this text, here are a few known experiences and feelings that could be emitted from said unusual chakras and what they could signify:”</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto skimmed down to see what he was looking for </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Strange Yet Familiar- This feeling combination may seem unlikely, however, Shinobi long ago have shared an experience with this particular chakra on the most rarest of occasions. When one is to come across chakra of this nature [more specifically, it might be brand new but has some sort of familiarity to the Shinobi] it can be inferred that the Shinobi has come across this chakra or is connected to the chakra. The Shinobi is advised to isolate this chakra and determine what aspect of this chakra is shared amongst them” </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto placed the book flat on the table and looked off into the distance...this is exactly what he was looking for, an explanation for the weird thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Has come across it or is connected to it</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto thought about this line carefully. What in the world could this mean, Naruto is pretty sure that if he’s felt this chakra before, he’d definitely remember it. Even with his newly gained sensory abilities, anyone could feel just how strong that strange chakra was. This was definitely something he had to tell Kakashi-sensei </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me Naruto, the library is closing soon” The librarian whispered as she walked up to the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, if it’s not too late, I’d just like to check out one book please” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Only if you place all the books back” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at the huge pile of books he collected “All of them?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All of them” The librarian said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s shoulders slumped, nonetheless, he got up and picked up his books to return them back to their rightful places. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Naruto finished the boring task and got the book he wanted from the library, he quickly realized how late it was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geez, I must have been cooped up in the library all day” Naruto said to himself as he looked up the dark sky. He looked at the book in his hand, he decided he wouldn’t bother the Hokage this late again. As important as this was, he could wait to tell his former sensei this tomorrow. And Naruto was also really hungry, which always came first in his own book</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to make the journey to his home when he heard a caw from above him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Another messenger bird?” Naruto said a little confused as he stuck his arm out for the bird to land. As usual, the note was attached to the bird’s legs. Once Naruto got the note off, he let the bird fly away. He unfolded the note and began to read it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Meet me at the midpoint of our locations alone ASAP -S</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s heart raced picked up as he finished reading the note. Sasuke had said he would be leaving for three days in the note he sent earlier that same day. What was with the sudden switch in plans? Whatever it was, it must have been serious enough for Sasuke to send a message directly to him at this time of night, he was probably waiting for him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tucked the note in his pocket and ran full speed to the halfway point, mind flooding with what the raven could need. He practically flew through the gates and through the forest to reach the middle point between the village and the hideout. As he got closer to the spot, he picked up Sasuke’s chakra, the raven was for real about his message. Once he reached the point, he saw the raven perched on a tree branch. Naruto jumped on that beach to stand next to the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re fast Uzumaki” Sasuke said as he rose to stand fully on the branch </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got your letter. Came as fast as a could” Naruto responded “Good thing too cuz I just discovered something super important!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good Naruto but I-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So I was at the library, yeah I was at the library, I know I’m so studious” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Impressive Naruto, but if you would just let ta-“ Sasuke tried again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, the blonde boy cut him off and kept rambling “So I picked up all these books about chakra and I was reading through them” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes! About the chakra Naruto-“ Sasuke interjected again, but alas the blonde kept talking </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I really thought I wasn’t going to find anything because I read and read and nothing po-</span>
  <em>
    <span>mff</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto was quickly shut up when Sasuke grabbed his shirt and pulled their faces together for a chaste kiss. A simple press of the lips was enough to get the blonde to shut his trap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear it’s like you want to get kissed” Sasuke scowled as he blushed, this seemed like this way the only way to fully shut Naruto up these days </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto raised his thumb to swipe it across his lips, trying to ease the tingling sensation he got every time he connected lips with the pale man </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No ones forcing you to do it ya know” Naruto muttered as his own face grew red </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wordlessly pulled out a pouch from within his cloak and tossed it to the blonde. The blonde caught it and raised an eyebrow in confusion as to what Sasuke could have given him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Naruto opened the bag, his eyes grew wide and gasped </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>a cliff hanger??? oof thats crazy </p><p>I had some chipotle today and that shit was IMMACULATE. but I hope yall ready for these next chapters👀</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS &lt;3333</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“THE ROCK AND FLOWER?” Naruto gasped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is this not what you described?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, it is! It’s them but….but…” Naruto looked at the items more closely “they look...pale...the rock is really cracked and the flower is basically dried” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I didn’t even sense the chakra like I always do”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit, don’t tell me I got the wrong ones” Sasuke frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, it looks like them! It really does, but no chakra…” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed and turned to look below them “Sorry, I wasted your time. I didn’t mean to bring you out this late for nothing” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto saw the look of regret Sasuke had. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it looked like Sasuke was thinking it was a bad idea to reach out to Naruto in the first place. Sasuke was going to shut himself out again, forcing Naruto to lose the layers he’s been working so hard to pull back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached out his hand to connect it with Sasuke’s, the raven’s eyes grew wide at the gesture </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s no problem really” Naruto smiled gently “I’d come regardless” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke simply blinked at the blonde at first, Naruto always seemed to view Sasuke as incapable of making him upset. Giving out a breathless laugh, Sasuke allowed their hands to remain connected, hopefully keeping them both a bay </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t doubt you. I wouldn’t put it past you to break into my hideout again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, that was one time” Naruto said, he let go of their hands and looked into the bag one more time. It had genuinely looked like the rock and flower he first saw, but he was missing that chakra presence. If only they could at these things closer…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait Sasuke! I got it!” Naruto shouted suddenly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your hideout has a lab doesn’t it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, what about it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s take these and put them under a microscope or something to get a closer look” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto even if we did, I’ve kept you late enough. And I’m pretty sure none of us know how to use that lab equipment” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care about time right now! This could lead us to more information! And I’m sure we’d figure it out together” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke recognized the determination in Naruto’s voice, he knew he wasn’t going to bother trying to get Naruto to reason. Naruto also made a point, this could finally give them a clue about the recent strange events, even though Naruto said this likely wasn’t the one he saw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oka-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke couldn’t even finish when Naruto once again took him by his hand and led them to the hideout</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I also gotta tell you something else I discovered!” Naruto called back to Sasuke as they ran, hand in hand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed, he knew this was going to be a long night </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>**********</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhhhhhh, can’t you just stick it under there?” Naruto suggested </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, you need to put it on one of these slides” Sasuke said as he held one up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto picked up the dried flower and ripped off a fragile petal, he handed it over to the raven who then put it in between two glass slides. He gently put it under the microscope and began to zoom in with the lens, trying his best to get a clear look at its microscopic elements </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto grew impatient and pushed the raven away “You’re taking too long. I’ll figure it out myself” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde then looked into the microscope, all he saw was a blurry mess of green. He began toying with the button to zoom in and out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t see anything!” Naruto said as he peered into the microscope “This thing must be brok-</span>
  <em>
    <span>WOAH</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde fell to the ground as his collar was harshly pulled back away from the microscope </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was about to get it if you hadn’t pushed me away” Sasuke scowled at the boy. He once again positioned himself to look into the microscope, trying to regain the clear image he was so close to settling on. Once he managed to finally see the clear view of the plant’s cells he let out an intrigued hum </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde rose from the ground “What is it? Let me seeee! Get out the way!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Push me again and next time I’ll throw you against the wall” Sasuke threatened </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like you could” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You wanna try me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto bumped his shoulders against Sasuke’s and slid the microscope closer to him. The blonde looked into him and focused on the contents </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They just look like pale dots” Naruto said as he looked on </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe, those dots are plant cells” Sasuke said as he rolled his eyes “They usually should be moving but since the plant is dried out, the cells are dead” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mhm, makes sense” Naruto agreed, even though he had no idea what Sasuke was talking about </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s why they looked pale. If I recall correctly, you said when they were still connected to the ground they were alive, despite being wilted” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even in that state, or dead for the matter after a certain period of time, you still should be able to see cells somewhat more active. I picked them up and they looked like they were just picked, but yet they look as if they died years ago and all the nutrients and energy from the cells had just vanished?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Vanished? Like no trace at all?” Naruto repeated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s right” Sasuke said as he picked up the cracked rock “I’m also assuming the rock you first saw wasn’t as dry or cracked like this one” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup, looked totally normal” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pulled out a kunai knife and struck the rock, it crumbled in his hand, and Sasuke put some of the pebbles into another slide and stuck it under his microscope </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Sasuke had the chance to look, Naruto was already looking at the zoomed-in view at the remains of the rocks </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heyyyy, I can’t see any cells” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave the blonde a look of both disbelief and disappointment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said you’ve been studying a lot right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked up from the microscope to face the raven “I have, why do you ask?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You might want to study a lot more” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s the supposed to mean?” Naruto said annoyed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rocks don’t have cells you idiot, they’re nonliving” Sasuke replied </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As if any normal person would know that, you nerd” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke thew Naruto an unamused glance, the blonde just stuck his tongue out at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rocks are made up of grains and minerals” Sasuke moved to look at the microscope but raised his eyebrow at the sight below him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” The blonde inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It look likes it’s missing some minerals and the color just looks borderline white” Sasuke answered “Also, these are supposed to be laced with chakra? There’s no chakra residue or presence at all within these two” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t know what he was supposed to say. He was completely in the dark and just as lost as the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke let out a deep sigh</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can’t say for certain if this is the same rocks I found at first, but because their so weird and missing a couple of things this just makes them more on the positive side” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll just write down our observations and give them to Kakashi-sensei to file and keep away until we find more solid information” Naruto leaned on the lab table “Now let me tell you the information I found out while I was studying in the library” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wonder if I should trust it given what you just said a moment ago about rocks being alive” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bastard, here look I brought the book” Naruto pulled out the very book he made his stunning discovery in earlier </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke turned to the section Naruto had set aside, and his eyes narrowed as he read every word carefully. He set it down slowly when he was done and had a pensive look on his face as he processed everything </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re connected to it or you’ve come across it?” Sasuke thought out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know! It doesn’t make sense” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you really sure you haven’t come across this chakra? Think hard about this one, I know that’s not easy for you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled at the raven’s jab “Yes I’m sure! I’m pretty sure anyone would remember super weird chakra like this. What about you? You said you could feel how weird this chakra is,</span>
  <em>
    <span> are you</span>
  </em>
  <span> positive </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> haven’t seen it either?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I’m not sure Naruto, because I totally wouldn’t have said anything up until this point about it” Sasuke said dryly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You and your goddamn mouth...” Naruto threw at the raven “Anyways, it just doesn’t add up with us. We say it’s a new yet familiar feeling chakra, but we’ve never felt it before. Yet this book says that we’ve had to” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know anymore Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto now let out his own sigh “I don’t either. We just have to hope that we can finally get answers after we go on this mission together” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re still keen on that?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And why wouldn’t I be?” Naruto said, the raven only shook his head at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We leave tomorrow, we’re going to start with the only land we haven’t seen and that’s the Land Hidden in the Clouds” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s going to be another long and painful journey with you” Sasuke complained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” Naruto chuckled “Well sounds like a plan, do you mind if I crash here so we can hop right into our mission?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave Naruto an annoyed look </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great! Also do you have food? I’m starvingggg” Naruto said as he began to leave the lab they were in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s well past midnight” Sasuke said, slightly confused at how the blonde managed to have an appetite this late in the night </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Sasukeeee, I’m hungry” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can eat in the morning, as if you don’t already eat my food” Sasuke said as he pushed past the blonde and made his way into his room “I’m going to bed” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess I could sleep too” Naruto said as he entered the room too. But Sasuke held out his hand to stop the blonde, Naruto looked at him with confusion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And what do you think you’re doing?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Going to sleep?” Naruto replied </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not in my bed you aren’t” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then do you have an extra bed or couch I could use?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then you’re bed it is” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t you sleep on the floor?” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha! Funny joke” and with that Naruto moved around Sasuke’s hand and was about to jump on his bed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WAIT!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you at least change out of your outside clothes? I don’t want your dirty clothes touching my sheets” Sasuke grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dirty? I’ll have you know I’m clean” Naruto said as he crossed his arms and raised his chin “Besides how am I supposed to change into extra clothes. When someone sends an ASAP message my first thought isn’t to make sure to pack an extra outfit”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke huffed “You can borrow a top from me I guess”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke handed Naruto a plain white tee and went down into his bathroom to change into his own pajamas. The blonde undressed and slipped on the white top, leaving his boxers on and plopping on to bed. He wrapped himself with the thin sheet and grabbed the pillow to put directly under his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe Sasuke was right in suggesting to sleep, he suddenly felt very tired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Uchiha returned to his room and scoffed at the sight of Naruto bundled up in his bed. Sasuke blew the single candle the lit the room and got into his own bed. Although he quickly realized how small it was considering that he was really close to Naruto’s side and Naruto was hogging the pillow and blanket </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe, scoot over. And quit taking the blanket and pillow” Sasuke snapped at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not my fault your bed is so small!” Naruto snapped back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you to sleep on the floor!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then give me </span>
  <em>
    <span>MY</span>
  </em>
  <span> blanket and </span>
  <em>
    <span>MY</span>
  </em>
  <span> pillow”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you ever heard of </span>
  <em>
    <span>SHARING</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke snatched the blanket from the tan boy and pulled the pillow from under him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now I’m not getting some!” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Too bad” Sasuke yawned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto angrily turned his back to Sasuke as he tried to get some sleep. After a while, Naruto began to shiver given the lack of warmth from the sheet. He slowly began to scoot against Sasuke, moving quite a bit against him in trying to snag the blanket away from the raven, however, he quickly froze when he felt a hand on his hips </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto….stop moving like that” Sasuke said in a low tone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was about to yell at the raven about what he was talking about when he felt something against hard against his ass. Fuck, he didn’t realize he was moving so much around Sasuke’s most sensitive area </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A-Are you good?” Naruto asked, embarrassed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I’m not, thanks to you” Sasuke muttered in that same embarrassment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry! But you weren’t letting me get some sheets. And you’re still hogging the damn sheets” Naruto said as he began moving again to get the blanket </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said stop moving!” Sasuke shouted tightening his grip on Naruto’s hips. Naruto ceased all movements when he felt he had practically shoved his ass on Sasuke’s hard-on </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh right...sorry” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pushed the blonde away from and as he sat up, completely embarrassed his dick reacted that way</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you gonna take care of it?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up” Sasuke growled “I should make you do it for causing it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto scoffed as he briefly looked at the tent Sasuke was pitching “If it’ll get you to stop yelling at me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? No, I wasn’t serious” Sasuke said, blush growing impossibly deeper </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever, just get it out of the way so you can shut up and go to sleep” Naruto said, honestly he didn’t know what came over him to offer such a service to Sasuke. But if it would push them past this very awkward moment and finally sleep then he was willing to take one for the team</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only gave an unsure nod, swallowing hard. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was this really about to happen?</span>
  </em>
  <span> I mean the two of them have had full-on had sex before, but for some reason with less anger this felt even more intimate </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s hand made its way to the waistband of Sasuke’s sweatpants and boxers, pulling them down enough for his dick to spring up</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke closed his eyes both from embarrassment and bliss, hissing slightly as the cool air hit his sensitive member </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was still in disbelief that he would suggest this</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ran a thumb over the leaking head, he was instantly met with a small moan from Sasuke</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>That instantly sent shivers down Naruto’s back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to slowly use the pre-cum and glide his hand up and down Sasuke’s shaft </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke couldn’t believe it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The idiot was actually giving him a fucking handjob</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Again, he knows they fucked before but this was just too personal and he knows he shouldn’t allow this, shouldn’t enjoy this given the fucked up circumstances they were already in, but holy fuck did it feel good </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke moaned the blonde’s name</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something unlocked within Naruto that he selfishly wanted Sasuke to say it again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began pumping him harder, making the wet sounds fill the room </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was ashamed of himself for how good the blonde’s rough tan hands felt on his member, although he currently couldn’t care less as he was chasing his own high</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His moans and groans were practically music to Naruto’s ears, marveling at how Sasuke was unraveling at the seams from touch, it was like a power rush, how much he could break the raven like this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For some reason, Naruto felt it was needed, he leaned his face closer to Sasuke’s </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sensed it and raised his own </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two pressed their lips together for a kiss</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began gliding his hands faster up and down Sasuke’s dick, the raven broke away from the kiss and moaned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was close and he knew it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>N-Naruto….I’m gon-</span>
  </em>
  <span>“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was cut off, white liquid dripping all over Naruto’s hand</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto still pumped him while he came, making Sasuke see nothing but white and pleasure, moaning Naruto’s name and curses like a prayer </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde slowed his pumps as the last drips of cum spilled from Sasuke’s dick</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke laid flat in his bed, still trying to recover from the bliss Naruto gave him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at his hand and blushed “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gross</span>
  </em>
  <span>...can you shut up and share the blanket and pillow now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was met with a pillow threw hard as his face </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>....😚✌🏻</p><p>anyways yall got some music recommendations, I'm lowkey getting tired of being in my emo phase and throwing ass to My Chemical Romance </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS ♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I told you not to eat that much before getting on the boat” Sasuke said as he held Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s….not my fault. You didn’t let me eat yesterday and then I was kept awake by jerk--“ Naruto was cut off as he heaved over the side of the boat again. Sasuke was just thankful he couldn’t finish that last part, blushing slightly at the embarrassing night they spent together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke made a disgusted sound as he gently patted Naruto’s back until the future Hokage finished emptying the contents of his stomach. Sasuke handed him a water cantine so Naruto could rinse his mouth, the blonde took it gratefully, spitting it out when he finished. He collapsed on the deck. Sasuke stepped over the body and pulled out the map and compass to track how far along they’ve come</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Looks like we should be arriving at the Village Hidden in the Clouds soon” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are we gonna dock?” Naruto groaned from the wooden floor </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just outside the main Village. The rocky waterfront…” Sasuke trailed, face falling slightly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto noticed the sudden change in tone “What’s wrong? Are we off route or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No it’s just...not a place that offers good memories” Sasuke said quietly, images of how he tried to take the 8 tails host while he was a part of the Akatsuki flashed through his mind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto knew Sasuke was talking about something from his path while he was still blinded by hate. Naruto slowly raised himself off the ground and walked over to the brooding Uchiha and swung an arm around him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I get it, it’s okay though! Like I said, we’ll make more happy memories together” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rolled his eyes playfully at the ever-optimistic blonde, they would really be making up for lost time with this long mission. He wondered how it would play out, they still bickered just like old times he supposed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Poor me” Sasuke teased, earning a tongue out from Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you feeling any better? I’m not gonna keep babying you anymore” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Babying? Please, all you did was hold me and tell me to stop. You’re a real Kunoichi” Naruto threw “Besides, if we’re being real specific about who’s taking care of who, let’s not forget how dealt with your hard o-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke slapped the backside of Naruto’s head, Naruto let out a cry in pain and threw a very angry glare at the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well snap out of it. You’re not much use if you’re just barfing the whole time” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Heyyy</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto growled “It’s not like I have anything to throw up anyways” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a disgusted scoff and walked to the front of the boat, through the clouds that have gathered around, he could tell they had arrived </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still rubbing his pained spot, Naruto walked to stand beside the raven, having noticed that they were indeed approaching their location </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re here” Sasuke spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boat soon stopped at the dock, allowing for the two strong shinobi to step off and look around at their environment. But before the two could say anything, Naruto froze and latched his hand on Sasuke’s forearm. This caused the Uchiha to stop in his own tracks and raise an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The chakra....I feel it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eye widened at that simple statement “Already?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Beleive me, I’ve memorized this damn chakra. I know it when I sense it” Naruto confirmed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked around, he was starting to get a funny feeling too, it must be the chakra </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What form could it take? A cloud? Rocks? Water? There are so many things in this Land” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope it’s not a cloud. It’d be like trying to get Mist again” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever it turns to, we have to keep our guard up” Sasuke said as he kept one hand on his sword and was about to activate his-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WAIT” Naruto yelled suddenly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke snapped his head to look at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I say Sharingan when you activate it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blinked at the boy “Are you serious Naruto?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? It’s gonna be so cool, I’ve always wanted to do it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear I’m going to hit you so hard” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave an annoyed sigh and shut his eyes, Naruto was really a pain in the ass</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sharingan!” Naruto shouted excitedly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes opened and low and behold, one of his orbs were that lovely red shade Naruto had come to admire along with the lavender one, Naruto let out a happy laugh</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A child. You are an actual child” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have to admit, it was pretty cool” Naruto said as he gave a quick stretch of his limbs “Alright, let’s get serious” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two walked slowly through the area, trying to scope out any obvious threats </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s definitely here. I sense it strongly” Naruto spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We need a plan on how we’re going to get a sample” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Assuming it’s the worse and it takes the mass of clouds, we can also expect for it to have a weak spot that’s visible with the chakra system throughout the body. With that weak spot, the mist creature thickened its mist around it. I’m thinking we throw shuriken that has a seal on it at the weak spot, that way it’ll capture both a bit of that cloud and chakra, even if it’s for a second” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds like a good idea” Naruto said “That’ll mean we’ll have to change our usual attack strategy” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah we do. Let’s use that point we made about the things not attacking me, I’ll be bait while you go and hide and throw the sealed Shuriken at it” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Sasuke, we don’t know for sure if these things really do avoid you? I don’t want you into any unnecessary harm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I can handle my own” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah but then you got hurt from a bunch of leaves” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up” Sasuke snapped “Is the plan understood?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup, let’s get these bastards” Naruto smiled with determination </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two Shinobi pressed their backs against each other, making sure nothing came from either direction </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly Naruto saw an orb of chakra appear and the clouds from the sky gathered around it, slowly forming yet another creature </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great, its made up of clouds” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just our luck” Sasuke said as he turned to face the monster </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The clubs monster launched a burst of clouds at the boys, they easily jumped out of the way, but took notes of how they cracked the ground on impact </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What kind of clouds break the ground?” Naruto cried out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can it solidify its attacks?” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think so?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke ran straight towards the creature, it let out a loud roar as it threw another burst of cloud attacks at the raven, Sasuke pulled out his sword and sliced through the clouds, the sound of metal clinking was heard </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup solid” Naruto affirmed, he quickly made his way to hide amongst the rocks, readying to prepare his surprise attacks. He pulled out his shuriken and prepared his hand signs to give the metal weapons a sealing Jutsu </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait...how do you make a sealing Jutsu again?” Naruto wondered out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke launched himself and tried to jab his sword through the monster's weak spot. However, the cloud creatures quickly moved its body away from allowing Sasuke to hit its vital point, his sword cut off a piece of what you could call its shoulder, the creature let out a huge roar </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke landed gracefully behind the creature, pointing his sword in front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It hurt didn’t it? Then come on and attack me, give it all you got” Sasuke said urging the beast </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The monster raised its arms up and formed a giant cloud, hurling it directly at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s try something new” with that, Sasuke formed the iconic Uchiha hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fireball Jutsu!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blew through his fingers, huge flames devouring the cloud that was making its way to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto scratched the back of his head as he thought</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Foolish brat, you have a seal and you don't even know how to make one” Kurama teased from inside their domain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shush, I remembered! I’ve been studying a lot ya know” Naruto told the fox, he did the hand signs and placed his hand against the shuriken. Soon, sealing symbols appeared on the metal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Naruto was about to make his attack, suddenly the huge rock he hid behind exploded, pieces of it flying everywhere. Naruto brought his arm to cover his face and placed the shuriken in his pouch. He looked up to see clouds flying right by him. He kicked them away as he jumped behind another rock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit he saw me” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a grunt, he needed the monster to focus on him. He decided to test a theory out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey you” Sasuke called out to the monster, the monster’s attention was focused back on the ex rogue ninja </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He threw his sword far to the side to show the monster he was seemingly unarmed. He again ran directly to the monster, arms flying back as he moved quickly. As he was closing the distance, Sasuke noticed the monster wasn’t launching any attack. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Interesting </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke widened his mismatched eyes as he brought his arms back in front of him, placing one hand firmly on his forearm, lightning soon appeared on his other hand, the loud chirping soon filling the air </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Chidori!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cloud creature had yet again reverted to its defensive moves and moved before being struck by Sasuke’s lightning </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke growled in irritation, quickly defusing his Chidori and pausing to look at the monster from behind. His vision was quickly interrupted by a swinging blonde who threw three shurikens at the monster's vital spot. The shuriken then glowed slightly as it began to pull both chakra and its cloud form within the seal, the creature howled as it was pierced. Naruto noticed that the monster seemed to be weakened considerably, he took advantage of this and focused a large amount of his chakra in his hands as he uppercuts the beast. The creature flew back and Naruto quickly caught the shuriken that fell out of it. Sasuke ran quickly to the blonde’s side to witnesses the defeated creature, it slowly began to tear apart, the chakra fading away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Be careful, it might respawn” Naruto warned as he stuck his arm out across Sasuke to protect him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment of waiting, nothing was heard and nothing appeared </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s new” Naruto said lowering his arm</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me see those shuriken” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto handed them over to Sasuke, he took them and expected them carefully “Can you feel the chakra”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes widened at the realization, he smiled “Yeah, from the shuriken! But not from the creature” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It actually worked…” Sasuke said in slight disbelief </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woohoo! Of course, we did it! We’re the best damn team there is, believe it!” Naruto jumped in triumph </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke let out a loud whistle, suddenly a bird appeared and soared its ways towards him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven put the shuriken in a bag and tied it around the body of the bird, he quickly pulled out a sheet of paper from his own pouch and wrote a quick message</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>From Cloud Village</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>- S + N </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke folded the message and attached it to the bird as well</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Make sure the Hokage gets this immediately” Sasuke told the bird, it cawed in understanding and flew away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ohhh, so they can begin analyzing it?” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That and we don’t want any risk by carrying it around. Also, we don’t want it interfering with your senses when we go to other lands” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I charged at it completely unarmed and it didn’t attack me” Sasuke spoke again “But yet it managed to find you and began launching attacks”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess your theory on them not attacking you is right” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But why? I don’t understand why they feel the need to not fight me?” Sasuke asked himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe they sensed how much you atoned and gave up your fighting lifestyle” Naruto joked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Be serious Naruto. Also, you noticed how it solidified its form when protecting itself. It didn’t even come back after the vital point was hit”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was weird. Maybe it knows its form is weak so it has to concentrate on protecting itself in certain parts. That’s why it didn’t notice me with the surprise attack when I pierced vital point” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For once, you actually bring up a good point” Sasuke said, ignoring the angry glare Naruto pointed at him “That could explain why your attacks on the Sand Creature went through it. Sand is an actual solid thing and stronger than mist and clouds” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s true! But just like you said, they thicken parts when they’re trying to protect themselves, especially their vital spots, and that means that’s their weak spot because it didn’t come back” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded “Then that means we have to strike those areas to get both the sample and defeat them” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We managed to get a sample! Look at us, we literally are the perfect team! You see, this is why I’m telling you that you have to come back to the vi-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” Sasuke cut him off, refusing to hear the same plea Naruto always throws at him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Onto the next place!” Naruto cried out excitedly </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>land #1, done. OUR BOYS ARE SO CUTE UGH♥️</p><p>so let me get yall hip to the tea. I have a super bad shopping problem and the last time I blew a bag was in January 😭 So I told myself I wasn't going to spend any money until April, I WENT 3 MONTHS WITHOUT SHOPPING AND IM FINAN GO TO THE MALL NEXT SUNDAY AS A REWARD IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF LIKE YALL HAVE NO IDEA😭</p><p>Comment &amp; Kudos ✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Really Naruto?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just sit down and eat while you can” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But we’re on a mission”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay? And I haven’t sat down and had a proper meal in days! Priorities.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed as he sat down on the soft ground, looking briefly at the waterfall behind them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two were in the forest of the Village Hidden in the Mist, as that was the next place for them to stop during their mission. They were supposed to be searching for the Mist creature again, but the blonde kept whining about how starving he was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is now really the best time to sit down and have a picnic?” Sasuke asked in annoyance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m super hungry! And we said we were here to make good memories” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up. Also, the Mist thing took a while to come when we were first here so we have the time” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How many times do I have to tell you to not let your guard down” Sasuke scoffed as he looked around again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sharingan!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto yelled this in perfect timing as Sasuke’s eye changed color, Sasuke only gave the blonde a disappointed glance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still cool” Naruto smiled as he began to dig in his bag and pulled out his meal “So what do you have?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Food” Sasuke deadpanned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto crossed his arms and let out a huff at the gloomy raven, it annoyed Sasuke how childish Naruto was at times </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rice” The raven said in that same monotone voice of his </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Boring” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I totally care about your opinion” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You literally are the worse ya know that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s rich coming from you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled at the Uchia “Well I have sweet dumplings, veggies, and a small pastry” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great, you’ll be throwing up again” Sasuke shuddered as he remembered the last time the blonde ate a large amount of food before they embarked on something </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m getting real sick of you…” Naruto took a deep breath, he wasn’t going to let the bastard’s jabs affect him “I know I’m gonna have enough time for my food to go down” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” Sasuke said as he began to bite into his rice. Naruto also began devouring his own food </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya know Sakura made me these food pills to eat while on missions so I wouldn’t overeat” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She also made me a special medical kit to carry around for emergencies” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mhm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah she’s great! Really kind and caring” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You finished telling me about your crush there” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s not my crush! I mean she was at a time...” Naruto muttered, blushing slightly at the old memories </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I believe you alright”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just saying how great a person she is. Anyone would be lucky to have her, like the person she’s in love with” </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ah, so this was where Naruto was getting at</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he could practically feel the argument coming along. Sasuke decided to bite his tongue before he could say anything to both encourage the blonde from continuing or upsetting the blonde to start a fight </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe me, that ship sailed a long time ago” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure it has” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean it! You know she said loved me before…”  Naruto paused slightly, this was a memory he wasn’t too fond of</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stopped eating, he must have not have heard the blonde correctly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She confessed her love for me. But I just knew there was something off about it, even as kids I knew she was crazy about you. Turns out she was lying, she was trying to use that as a way to get me back to the village before she took off herself to find you” Naruto said softly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke clenched his jaw hard, so Sakura had tried to emotionally manipulate Naruto using his feelings for her. When that didn’t work, Sakura had continued on with her agenda and managed to find Sasuke. Sasuke tried to kill her, he’ll admit his error there, but even after she toyed with Naruto’s feelings, Naruto still came back to her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That...made Sasuke </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> upset for some reason. He already got angry when he thought of Naruto being hurt, he hated himself for being a large amount of Naruto’s pain, but he never allowed himself to use something as vulnerable as emotions to lure Naruto to their rivalry. This is exactly why he didn’t want Naruto to become too attached again, these things only lead to more pain, he didn’t want that for Naruto, not from him or anyone else. Given this, how could Naruto seriously expect him to go running to Sakura?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You moved past it, good for you” Sasuke said a bit harshly, refusing Naruto to continue with this subject before he became a little more angered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sudden change in tone took Naruto off guard “Yeah…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The air between them had shifted to something unfamiliar, tense would probably be how Naruto would describe the atmosphere </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached in his small bento box and grabbed the veggies, grabbing a carrot stick and holding it out towards his fellow shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the gesture </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We both moved past things, new memories remember” Naruto smiled, this caused Sasuke to get a small warm feeling in him. The idiot was still so kind to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rolled his eyes playfully and plucked the carrot stick from the tan hand “Dobe” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto chuckled and returned his attention to eating his own food, glad they pushed whatever weird moment that was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Man I wish I could stay on this mission longer, I really don’t want to go back to Hokage studying” Naruto sighed dramatically   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Konoha is sure going to be in great hands” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You watch your mouth before I banish you from the village myself” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’d be preferred” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like I’d do it” Naruto chuckled “Speaking of, when that time comes, what are you gonna be doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That was a good question</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it’s something that has come across Sasuke’s mind before. Although he usually didn’t like to ponder about it too much because quite honestly, he didn’t know. He didn’t like the idea of coming back to the village, the truth about people is they weren’t as willing to ‘forgive and forget’ as Naruto was. He would much rather protect the village and others from a distance. The things he did while in his oath of hate would have to be paid by him over a lifetime, he had come to terms with that </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who knows” Sasuke said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you think I’ll be Hokage?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s mismatched eyes focus on blue orbs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you will Naruto.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a slight noise in surprise at the genuineness in Sasuke’s voice. He couldn’t help but plaster a huge smile on his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Although things aren’t looking too good for the Hidden Leaf at the rate your studying” Sasuke added, he did not want to give Naruto the satisfaction of hearing praise from him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme” Naruto laughed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two continued on with their meal in comfortable silence, this was the longest they’ve talked so long without arguing. Once the food was long gone, Narutos laid on the ground fidgeting with the shuriken that he had placed a seal on. Sasuke kept his attention focused on their environment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This thing is taking too long” Naruto groaned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You haven’t sensed anything right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is taking longer” Sasuke sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we gonna go for the sneak attack plan?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, should be the same with the Mist monster” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So it’s gonna try and kill me and be nice to you, totally fair” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Quit whining, at least these aren’t high-level threats or anything. They all seem to act the same despite how little we know about them”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“True True” Naruto said as he got up and did a quick stretch “I’m gonna go for a quick walk” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t go too far. And pay attention to any chakra” Sasuke pointed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw you’ll miss me that bad?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto dodged the single seal shuriken Sasuke threw at him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Take one just in case” Sasuke said flatly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pulled the metal weapon from where it hit the tree and put it in his pocket</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde made his way to walk through the forest, the mist was above him, which was a good sign for his safety, but bad because the monster may not show up for them to see</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are you hiding ya weirdo?” Naruto spoke into the air as he walked deeper into the forest. He focused again on sensing out chakra, he knew he was pretty far despite the raven’s warning, but he could still clearly sense Sasuke’s chakra even though it was being interrupted by that weird chakra he hated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait a minute…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the mist fell around him, thick and heavy. The glow of the weird chakra flew right by him as the mist gathered together to start forming the body of the beast. Naruto jumped high onto a tree branch as the creature finished forming. It seemed to have noticed Naruto instantly and launched streams of mist directly at him. Naruto leaped onto another tree quickly, see as the blast of the mist cut down the tree entirely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Waiting for me to be alone huh? I know you love Sasuke so much, you were just waiting for us to separate so you could get me weren’t you?” Naruto spoke, quickly realizing the monster’s motives</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The monster let out a low growl at the blonde as it suddenly made the mist around them impossibly thick, Naruto was blinded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Man what did I do to make you hate me?” Naruto said as he quickly cloaked himself in Karuma’s chakra, luckily providing enough light to cut through the mist and see the creature was throwing another ray of attacks at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto threw a large ball of the orange chakra to quickly defuse both the mist and attack. Once the creature was trying to recover, Naruto hopped back into the trees. He quickly did his signature hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shadow Clone Jutsu</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another clone appeared beside Naruto, they nodded at each other, already knowing their line of attack. The clone quickly jumped down from the trees and started running towards the monster. The monster instantly began to attack it with balls of mist, the clone dodged each one perfectly. Meanwhile, Naruto leaped through the trees to try and get behind the monster. Just as last time, its vital spot was being protected with a thicker layer of mist. It wouldn’t have time to protect itself from being distracted by Naruto’s clone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The monster grew frustrated and roared, launching powerful streams of mist, it ended up hitting the clone, it disappeared with a poof. Right on cue, Naruto threw the single shuriken directly into the mist creature's vital spot, again sucking the chakra and surrounding mist within its seal. The monster howled as it slowly began to disintegrate, both the chakra and mist vanishing into thin air until the metal shuriken fell on the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto hopped from the tree to pick it up, suddenly he heard the sound of fast footsteps </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto!” Sasuke shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke! Look I got the shu-“ Naruto said as cut off by the raven putting his pale hands on both of his shoulders, frantic red and violet eyes looking over his body </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you hurt?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No no, I’m fine! Look I got a sample from it!” Naruto exclaimed as he held up the shuriken for Sasuke to see </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven only blinked at the blonde as he let out a deep sigh as he took the weapon from the tan hands </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe I told you not to go far. I felt something strange was about to happen and then I heard the roars, I got here as quickly as I could before it was too late”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cmon Sasuke, do you really think I couldn’t handle my own?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not the point. We can’t be reckless and carefree about something we know little about?” Sasuke said sternly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I managed to take it down just like we did the cloud monster. Except I had to be both the distraction </span>
  <em>
    <span>AND</span>
  </em>
  <span> the attacker. You know that’s nothing to me” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not doubting your abilities Naruto. Just...be more careful. These things are more unpredictable than you” Sasuke said, he didn’t know why he was geting so worked up and concern about the blonde. But if something were to happen to Naruto while he was there, he doesn’t know what he’d do</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah Yeah” Naruto waved off “Like I said, it was basically the same. As soon as I was alone and far enough from you, it launched full-scale attacks at me, the bastard” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So now it can actually distinguish us too, but it’s premeditating?” Sasuke thought out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“These things are getting weirder and weirder each time we come across them” Naruto spoke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s for sure” Sasuke said “Are you sure you’re alright? No major injuries?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine Sas’, really I am. I managed to quickly figure out its plan and used my clone as bait so I can attack it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds like you got this figured out. That means I can go back to my hideout”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha, nice try” Naruto said as he linked his arms with Sasuke’s “Aw so you do care about me”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna drown you in that waterfall before we go to the next land” Sasuke mumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Such kind words”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yessirrr land #2 done 🤝 also I added action, adventure, and mystery to the tags just cuz the stories developing so I figured why not </p><p>YALL I DID AMAZING ON MY STATS EXAM, IM HYPED ASF CUZ I REALLY THOUGHT MY DUMBASS WAS ABOUT TO DO BAD, THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT </p><p>also happy easter 🐰</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS ♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Another tap was heard at the Hokage’s window, Kakashi got up from his chair to reach the source of the noise. It was yet another messenger bird that was strapped with a pouch and message. This was the second one Kakashi’s received since the two war heroes sent out on their journey to capture samples of the creatures. Kakashi gently grabbed the pouch from the bird’s body and detached the note from the bird’s leg, the white-haired man nodded to the bird to set out and fly again. He unraveled the note to read </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>From the Mist-</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><ul>
<li><b><em>S + N</em></b></li>
</ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>(P.S. this was all me- N) </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two are actually doing well on this mission” Kakashi spoke aloud as he took the sealed shuriken from the pouch to inspect it. Kakashi could feel the powerful strange chakra with the first shuriken the boys sent over. He glad that these things actually excited and they had their own samples to investigate. He was also scared that there really was a creature across 4 out of the 5 major lands. With these samples, they would be one step closer to finding the origins and significance of these monsters</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What surprised Kakashi the most was the boys were making great progress with the mission. Of course he didn’t doubt their abilities or if they were powerful enough, the boys had proven to be so much more capable than him now. He worried about a variety of things: That Naruto had forced Sasuke to come along for this mission and they would end up fighting, Sasuke would somehow agree to come on the mission but they would end fighting, or he worried about the very small, rare, microscopic chance that the boys couldn’t take on these monsters. He just worried about his students, that was it. Given everything that’s happened in the past, could you really blame him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He added the message to a special file in his desk that contained any information and messages about Sasuke and this mission. He carefully placed the second shuriken along with the first one he received from the boys in a carefully sealed box, once he got all four he would have to begin making a plan to figure out he could get these samples tested. He had a general idea, get a small team in the labs to run tests on this chakra and the samples from the body of the monsters and swear them to secrecy and confidentiality, he would of course leave out any part that pertains to the Uchiha and the mission overall. He also considered bringing in Sakura, with her extensive knowledge on chakra natures due to her medical background would be really useful. It might be wrong to lie to her even more in regards to Sasuke, but this was for the benefit and protection of the village, he would do what he had to do to get the best shinobi to work on this case,</span>
  <em>
    <span> he might even consider bringing Shikamaru with his exceptional logistical reasoning skills…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that another letter from Naruto?” A voice called out, breaking him from his deep thoughts </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah it is” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s good he’s keeping you posted. Especially after you’ve sent him on quite the long mission” Iruka said as he closed the doors to the Hokage’s office behind him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Hokage kept another person in the dark about this mission, Iruka was very attached to Naruto and was bound to grow suspicious when he noticed Naruto’s prolonged absence. The blonde’s former teacher wasn’t even aware that Naruto was in frequent contact with Sasuke, Kakashi swears Iruka would have a heart attack. So he just made another little lie and told his trusted shinobi that he sent Naruto on a long mission to check each of the major lands and how they were doing in their post-war efforts, luckily Iruka bought that lie </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even of its over letters, you’ll never be able to shut Naruto up” Kakashi chuckled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know that’s right” Iruka sighed “How is he anyway?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well according to his most recent letter he’s making great progress” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good. I was thinking along the lines of his well-being. Is he eating right? Sleeping? Is his mental health better?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah woah Iruka. You’re being a mom again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not a mom!” Iruka said slightly embarrassed “If anyone’s a parent here it's you, although a pretty bad one” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here you go criticizing how I tend to my students” Kakashi sighed dramatically “Believe me, I know Naruto better than anyone else” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess. I thought I told you to keep it easy with the missions. I saw him acting weird a while ago and he said it was because he was as tired from all the jobs you would send him to do”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This was new information to the Hokage </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Weird?” Kakashi repeated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he looked like he was deep in thought. I asked him how he was doing and about….</span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And he snapped” Iruka explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They must have had an argument</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see. Maybe I am tiring him out a bit” Kakashi said, knowing the real reason for Naruto;s gloomy mood </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know he’s the strongest person alive but cut him some slack Kakashi. It’s still pretty early after the war and I don’t think he’s had time to really sit down and heal about everything” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Noted. I’ll make sure to send him on a nice trip to the Hot Springs when he comes back” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Hokage I’m serious” Iruka said as he crossed his arms “I just worry about him. You know he’s been through so much” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh</span>
  </em>
  <span> I told you about the formalities. Relax, I understand the concern. I know he has, that’s what makes him so resilient and strong. I know how to take care of my boy”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look who’s starting to sound like the parent now” Iruka snickered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anything to keep the wife happy” Kakashi winked at Iruka </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka immediately blushed and turned away “Be serious for once. Now I’m even more concerned”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure Naruto is fine. He’s probably doing amazing on his mission as we speak” Kakashi smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Why do you guys only wanna attack me!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto cried out as he ran through the sandy terrains </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sand monster roared as it launched balls of sand towards Naruto. Naruto easily dodged each one as he ran </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hurry Sasuke!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s mismatches eyes searched thoroughly at the monster</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It looks like its vital spot is in its stomach” Sasuke yelled to the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great! Good! Now get in front of it cuz it loves you”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another set of sand balls launched at the blonde, Sasuke jumped in front of their path and used his sword to slice through all of them before they could make any damage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember me? I killed you the last time we were here, although you never saw me” Sasuke told to the creature </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sandy beast stopped moving, its attention was focused on Sasuke. It only launched a small stream of sand, Sasuke cut through it with his sword again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that all you got? Attack me like you do with the idiot you hate so much” Sasuke taunted the beast </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto rolled his eyes at the insult but used this opportunity to try and sneak behind the monster. This was tricky as there was nowhere to hide, they were out in nothing but sand. As Naruto was about to reach the back, the monster caught wind of the blonde's presence and turned back to launching sand balls at the blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on! Sasuke was literally asking to be attacked” Naruto said as he skillfully threw kunai knives at each ball flying towards him. He once again ran to put more distance between him and the creature. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Switch Naruto!” Sasuke yelled, the blonde quickly looked over his shoulder to look at Sasuke in slight confusion. But he quickly realized what he meant </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He formed his hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shadow Clone Jutsu!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two clones appeared beside Naruto, running away from the beast </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two run ahead of me and get its attention” Naruto instructed the clones, they nodded their heads and ran at full speed. Naruto jumped high up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The clones were succeeding as they zig-zagged to avoid the streams of sand the creature was throwing at them. Sasuke noticed the real Naruto had leaped in the air and the clones were distracting the beast, Sasuke ran as he aimed his sword to where the creature’s heart would be and threw it. The sword phases right through it, the monster’s body focused on trying to absorb it, as Naruto began to descend from his powerful jump he threw the sealed shuriken at an angle to hit the monster’s stomach</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke happened to be right where Naruto was expected to land and subconsciously held his arms out, managing to catch the blonde in his arms bridal style </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The monster hardly stopped in its movements as it roared at having been hit, the shuriken once again began to collect both the chakra and pieces of its sandy form. The beast began to fall apart, sand flowing to join the millions of grains just like it in the dunes, the chakra system fading away as the previous ones</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Once again, we did it!” Naruto exclaimed, he finally made the realization that he was in Sasuke’s arms “</span>
  <em>
    <span>My hero</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke instantly dropped the blonde into the sandy ground, Naruto fell on the ground with a loud thud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Owwww, you couldn’t have sent me down more carefully” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my sincerest apology for not treating the famous Uzumaki with much more grace” Sasuke sighed, sarcasm dripping in every word he said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya know I’m getting real sick of your jabs and rudeness. It’s like you lack any manne-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke put his hand over Narutos face to push him out of the way as he walked ahead to pick up his sword and the shuriken that was left behind from the monster’s body as it fell apart </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can’t forget these” said Sasuke as he slid his sword back in his sheath, he was about to bend down to get the shuriken when he felt something hit his back. He turned his head to look at his back, sand sliding down his top </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you just fucking throw sand at me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I did, you sure as hell aren’t going to treat me like that” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you serious? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tch</span>
  </em>
  <span>, just cause you’re gonna be Hokage doesn’t mean everyone is going to be on their hands and knees for you” Sasuke scoffed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What does that have to do with anything? You’re just plain rude. What if I did that to you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like you could”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled as he went in to put his hand on the bastard’s face, Sasuke grabbed his wrist. Naruto quickly tried to use his other hand, but the raven latched on to the other worst as well, bringing Naruto hands in front of his body and pulling him close to peer deep in those stupid blue orbs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You couldn’t” Sasuke smirked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto frowned at how Sasuke dominated him, their faces were too close for his liking. Suddenly an idea popped into the blonde's head</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I’ll kiss you”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes snapped wide open “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With the raven successfully caught off guard, Naruto freed one hand and pushed Sasuke's face away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could” Naruto smirked back as he wiped his hands </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke swears his Sharingan was about to shift to a much more violent pattern based on his rage, but he took a deep breath, he was a different person, a much calmer and peaceful person who doesn’t fight anymore, no matter how much the blonde always pushes him to the damn brink </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fucking Usuratonkachi” Sasuke gritted through his teeth and he walked again towards where the shuriken lied on the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was expecting a fight quite honestly, he was just happy to pull one over the Uchiha </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke bent over to pick up seal metal weapons, wiping off the sand they gathered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright looks good, time to send them to Kakashi” Sasuke spoke to himself, he was about to whistle for his messenger bird when-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait I wanna call it” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? No, stay away from me” Sasuke scowled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, why do you always get to do the cool things. Just let me call the damn bird” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Literally for what reason Naruto?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just wanna do it! You never let me write the note”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You wrote the last one”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nooo, I had to write on the one you started” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose “Why do you have to be so annoying”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just let me do it ya bastard” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughed in triumph, he put his fingers in his mouth a blew, a loud whistle filling the air. He waited, nothing came. He whistled again, this time more loudly and longer </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell? Is it busy or-</span>
  <em>
    <span>HMPH</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The messenger bird flew right into Narutos face, knocking the blonde back to fall on the sand once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke held his arm out for the messenger bird to land properly, the bird flew over and landed gracefully on the pale man arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re still my trusty messenger bird” Sasuke said with a small smile </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>a little kakashi and iruka moment 😌 yesssir land #3 done, NEXT. </p><p>I just love it when yall comment, yall are so funny and so sweet. UGH🥺♥️ </p><p>so I've been listening to a lot of new music (thanks yall) and I swear I feel like a whole new person </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Back on home land!” Naruto said as he stopped on one of the tree branches “Man it feels good to be back”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke landed beside the blonde “For once, I agree with you completely”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a long and eventful mission across the lands in search of these strange chakra-powered monsters. The two shinobi were back on familiar territory </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The traveling was not bad!” Naruto smiled “Wouldn’t you agree?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m always about 3 seconds away from putting you under my genjutsu” Sasuke said flatly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto waved the grumpy Uchiha off “Alright 3 down and one more to go. And we have the home team advantage here”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t get all loose now. We’re still on a dangerous mission here, just because we’re back home doesn’t make things any easier” Sasuke cautioned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah yeah, I heard ya the first million times. Besides, this thing was made of leaves if I remember correctly right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Leaves </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> the powerful strange chakra” Sasuke corrected </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, and still managed to get you bruised up. And I’m so much stronger than you ya know, so I’m not worried” Naruto shrugged</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well come on, let’s go!” Naruto said as he jumped down from the trees, Sasuke copied the action “I’ll lead the way with my sensory abilities!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can sense it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhh...no” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Must not be nearby or formed yet” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re probably right” Naruto agreed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well we might as well continue forward” Sasuke said as he began walking, but he noticed that the blonde wasn’t following “You do remember where you found it right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I do!” Naruto huffed, he walked in the opposite direction Sasuke was currently heading </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed as he pulled Naruto’s collar back, choking him slightly in the process</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You idiot” and with that, Sasuke began walking again, this time the future Hokage followed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys walked through the familiar forest</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“By the way, you never really told me how you found that rock and flower we studied” Naruto pointed out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you recall how when you sent me to find it the first time, I told you there was nothing there?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I do, the one time you actually wrote back” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rolled his eyes “Anyways, when I was walking for a second time to the location, it still wasn’t there. But I knew that it looked like someone had picked all the flowers and the rocks were removed” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh?” Naruto raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I kept this last part hidden from you for a reason, I didn’t want to make any huge assumptions or make you worry for the worse…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As I walked towards the direction of the Hidden Leaf, I found them strayed about. As if someone was running away from here carrying all the rocks and flowers, and the ones I managed to find were a mistake and resulted from them being dropped or left behind” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s stopped walking, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that couldn’t be, that just wasn’t possible. There was no way someone from Konoha would be responsible for these strange chakras.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke immediately recognized the look of worry and confusion on Naruto’s face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like I said. I’m just jumping to conclusions based on the worst scenario. We’re still in the dark about all this” Sasuek tried to reason </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a small nod, Sasuke was right, he was just thinking about this in a negative sense “Yeah…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke playfully flicked the boy on his head “That’s why you dragged me on this dumb mission remember? Let’s get this last one so we can finally get some answers” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven successfully managed to distract the blond from any negative thoughts and doubts. Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the spot he had been hit </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe it! Let’s keep going to do just that!” the energized blonde said as he ran now in front of Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys continued inspecting the forest, being extra vigilant for any possible signs of the last creature </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Speaking of the samples, we gotta make sure we take those back to Kakashi-sensei along with the last shuriken so they could get tested too” Naruto spoke as he looked around </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You go on and do that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do realize you’re gonna be going with me with this to-” Naruto was cut off as his senses picked up what they were waiting for </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked at the blonde who suddenly stopped talking, Naruto gave him a wordless nod </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was here. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys already knew what to do, their strategy had remained strong thus far and was the go-to move. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The air around them began to swirl as leaves from the trees around them tore off their branches and began to gather around the ball of strange chakra that Naruto sensed. Once the full body was formed, it let out a loud roar. Naruto jumped in the branches awaiting the perfect opportunity to jump put for a sneak attack and Sasuke began running in front of it to capture its attention </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nice to see you again. I hope you don’t expect me to forgive you after that little fight we had the last time we crossed paths” Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan, when he turned to look at the beast, he made a confused noise. There was something drastically different with this one…</span>
  <em>
    <span>it had 5 vital points </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke quickly did his hand signs to release his fireball jutsu, once he blew the flames through his fingers and blinded the beast with fire, he quickly looked up to find the blonde perched patiently on the branch. He jumped up on the same branch </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woahhh, everything good?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, this one has 5 vital spots”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>WHAT?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It has vitals points in its heart, stomach, head, and the two arms” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuckkkk, give me an extra two Shuriken”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke dug in his own pouch and handed the two metal weapons to the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You never said anything about it having more than one vital spot” Naruto said as he began doing the hand signs so the shuriken could have the sealing jutsu </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah it didn’t have them last time saw it” Sasuke said “How the hell did it get more vital spots. It looks the same”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the monster let out another cry as it began hurling multiple blasts of leaves flamed with the weird chakra </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys quickly jumped away from the attack. Sasuke headed towards the ground again and ran, the monster ran after him. The monster began to spit out more of the high powers leaf attacks, Sasuke drew his swords and deflect them with ease </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Naruto did another set of hand signs and made two shadow clones spore beside him in the trees</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Quickly guys. I’ll shoot for the head and heart” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took two shurikens for himself, he handed another two to the first clone “You go for the arms”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You go for the stomach” Naruto said as he handed the last one to the second clone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got it!” The clones said in unison as they jumped away to their positions to make the perfect strike</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Sasuke had caused the creature to come within the Narutos range, all three blondes let out a battle cry as shuriken flew from all directions, each hitting the vital points perfectly. The leaf creature howled as it slowly began to deform as the others just like it, both chakra flow and body fading away as the shuriken took a sample and sealed it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The clones disappeared and Naruto jumped down to meet Sasuke, who was currently collecting the five final sealed shuriken </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled and picked up the raven in a bone-crushing hug, pressing their cheeks against each other’s </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WE DID IT SASUKE! WE DEFEATED ALL FOUR MONSTERS AND GOT THE CHAKRA!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let. Go. Of. Me” Sasuke said in a menacing tone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto remained unaffected by the angry raven and set him down</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We gotta get these two Kakashi-sensei ASAP” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I agree. We’re not too far from my hideout so you can get the flower and rock sample too” added Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded and the two tired shinobi walked towards the hideout, glad that this long mission was finally accomplished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they arrived at the hideout, Naruto dumped all his travel gear and headed straight towards Sasuke’s bed and let out a sigh of relief that this mission was completed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke has gone to the lab they once were in to retrieve the samples, when he came back he frowned at the view of the blonde on his bed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re getting way too comfortable around here. Here are your samples, leave.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So mean” Naruto said as he got up “Alright let’s go”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave him a blank look </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya know, back to the village so we can give Kakashi-sensei the samples” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto listen to me and I mean really listen to me”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am not going back to the village.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave another deep sigh “Here you go again, and what’s the reason this time Sasuke”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The same as it’s always been. I am a criminal” Sasuke answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You literally went on this mission”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You literally forced me on this mission” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only looked at the raven, he gave a dry laugh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re not gonna do this. Nope. Let’s go” Naruto tugged at Sasuke arm, Sasuke jerked it back harshly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you just being stubborn? Why the fuck can’t you just seriously listen to me” Sasuke snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How many times are you gonna say the same dumb stuff Sasuke? We just came back from a long ass journey in which we both were assigned on. You have an obligation to come back and report” Naruto snapped back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I went on the mission like you wanted. That’s enough.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not having another argument Sasuke. I said we’re going back”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes, he was losing control of his growing temper, he walked menacingly close to the blonde, staring him down with his black and purple eyes that almost made Naruto scared, </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you and the fact that you always think you know what’s right for me” Sasuke said in a dangerous tone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto clenched his jaw and balled his fist “No, I know I’m right” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke snapped, his hand reached out to seize Naruto by the throat, instinctively Naruto grasped at the pale man’s hand</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Sasuke leaned in to kiss the tan neck, Naruto jerked from surprise but then relaxed. He knew where this was going, it was almost inevitable at this point whenever they got angry. Sasuke gave a nip and when Naruto groaned, he couldn’t stop himself again from nipping at his neck more. Then Sasuke sucked Naruto’s neck into his mouth and let it go with a wet pop. He peppered the slightly reddened area with kisses and small licks then switched to the other side to give it the same treatment</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto couldn't think straight, he just wanted Sasuke to stop with his protest and go back to the village, so when Naruto tried to speak again, Sasuke licked into his open mouth. Naruto gasped but took the hint and quiet down</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pulled back to give Narutos lips a lick. He licked around in Narutos mouth, who was panting and giving small gasps as Sasuke attacked every inch with his tongue. Sasuke rolled Naruto’s tongue around with his and the exotic sensations made Naruto squirm around. Sasuke felt this and lowered his hands to still Narutos hips, but then reached down more to knead at his ass instead</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gasped again but then moaned as both his mouth and rear were fondled. He squirmed around even more to the point that Sasuke pushed Naruto’s body down then effortlessly lifted him up and laid him on the bed. Narutos legs automatically wrapped around Sasuke’s hips, and Naruto used the new position to grind his ass against Sasuke's crotch</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke maneuvered Naruto and leaned down to latch onto his neck again. He sucked and licked and bit at Naruto’s throat and slowly made his way down, marking Naruto skin even more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke reached down to take off Naruto’s shirt and jacket, still sucking and licking at Narutos neck</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmm, h-hurry up Sasuke” Naruto struggled to get out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke seems to understand enough and pulled back so he can adjust Naruto who was wrapped around his body, he completely takes off Naruto’s upper clothing, Sasuke moves down and abruptly sucks a nipple into his mouth, Naruto moaned loudly at this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He rolls his tongue around the bud and lets his teeth catch on the tip. Naruto is groaning above him and calls out Sasuke’s name when Sasuke gives a strong suck around his nipple</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ah, Sasuke. Ah please, more. Ahhhh…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke is giving it tiny kitten-like licks as his hand is toying with Narutos other nipple and using his thumb and forefinger to twist it. Sasuke pulls them off and sticks those fingers into his mouth to wet them then goes back to playing with the nipple not being tormented with his mouth. Naruto is jerking up, pushing his chest into Sasuke’s mouth so Sasuke uses his unoccupied hand to hand his hips down to prevent the movement</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto is panting as his face red and eyes welled with tears and darkened with lustful want. He’s staring down at Sasuke biting his lips, but when they make eye contact Naruto calls out Sasuke’s name again in a weak voice. The scene would make even a bastard like him stop teasing and give him what he wants</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Sasuke isn’t a good man</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He moves over to the other nipples and noisily sucks that one into his mouth while watching Naruto who’s looking at him. Naruto isn’t holding back his moans as Sasuke gives the exact same treatment to this side of Narutos chest while fondling the already toyed nipple with his other hand. He sucks and nips and blows against the stiff red abused bud and when Sasuke finally, mercifully, pulls away, Naruto is twisting around in pleasure and Sasuke can barely hold him still</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke drinks in Naruto’s wrecked appearance, his face covered in a sheen of sweat, nipples red perky and wet with his saliva, and Naruto’s bright blue eyes blissed out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just fuck me already teme” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke quickly tugs Naruto’s pants off, revealing the completely soaked underwear underneath. Naruto’s cock is straining up against his white boxers, leaking so much pre-cum that it’s nearly see-through. Sasuke wastes no time, and he’s giving Narutos cock long licks through the boxers. Naruto is gasping and pushing up with each lick and Sasuke uses both hands to hold him still again. Sasuke then sucks at his head and then swirls his tongue around it, and Naruto is a babbling mess above. The friction of his silk boxers and Sasuke’s prodding tongue is making Naruto incoherent. Narutos thoughts are jumbled and when Sasuke abruptly pulls his underwear off and sucks Narutos cock into his mouth with no warning. Naruto’s mind blanks out and he thrusts into the heat of Sasuke’s mouth. Sasuke is still holding Narutos hips, so he uses them to guide Naruto to thrust into his mouth. Naruto jerks up and feels Sasuke’s throat seize around his cock, but Sasuke doesn’t even gag and continues directing Naruto to push deeper and throat fuck him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke swallows around him and Narutos mind blanks out and he tenses up to cum. Sasuke catches on and uses his hand to jerk Naruto off and he swallows again and that finally pushes Naruto over the edge. As the hot cum pours out of Narutos twitching dick, Sasuke swallows some so it doesn’t overflow, but holds most of it in his mouth</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Above, Naruto is gasping for breath and he shuts his eyes to collect himself from the ferocious onslaught of pleasure. Sasuke sticks his fingers into his already wet mouth, slicking them up as much as he could before he is probing around Narutos entrance and Naruto startles when he makes initial contact, but he has no energy to do much but moan from the sensation. Sasuke gently stretches Naruto’s hole with his finger and when he hears Naruto ask for more, he twists his hand and adds a second finger</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All three digits are fucking into Naruto and Naruto is once again hard from the simulation to his entrance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>S-Sas...ah...please</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto desperately moans </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Those words make Sasuke abruptly realize how painfully hard he is. Sasuke gently pulls out his fingers and then can’t get out of his pants off fast enough. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke lines himself up, but one look at Naruto stops him short. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke please fuck me you bastard....</span>
  </em>
  <span>" but Sasuke is already steadily and slowly pushing into Naruto. But Naruto is having none of it and he grounds down and practically impales himself on Sasuke’s cock. The heat of Naruto suddenly surrounding him almost makes Sasuke cum, but he holds it back. He catches his breath as Naruto gets used to Sasuke inside him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck Naruto, you’re so tight” Sasukek moaned as he is moving and thrusting into Naruto who is clenching around him, trying to pull Sasuke deeper into him. The bed is groaning around them as Sasuke angles Narutos hips to hit even deeper, and when he hits that sweet spot in Naruto, Naruto shouts in pleasure. Sasuke smirks and aims for that spot, grinding down into it with each thrust until Naruto is once again a babbling mess only calling out his name in between his moans</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto clenches around Sasuke and they both groan. Sasuke re-angles himself and every one of his thrusts are with purpose and soon Naruto is clenching around him again, but they are both cumming and moaning. Naruto gets back at Sasuke is by tightening around Sasuke and milking him until Sasuke is gasping from the stimulation on his dick as he comes deep inside Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys stay in that position for a while, trying to gather themselves from that intense session they just had </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“J-just come back to the village you bastard” Naruto breathed out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You fucking idiot” Sasuke replied </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I AM IN A GOOD ASS MOOD </p><p>1.) I GOT THREE PERFECT GRADES ON MY FINAL PAPERS FOR MY LAW CLASS<br/>2.) MY FAV FAMILY MEMBERS ARE COMING WITH ME TO GO SHOPPING<br/>3.) NARUTO &amp; SASUKE DID IT </p><p>SO I GAVE YALL THIS CHAPTER, HOPE YOU LIKE IT :)</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, he instantly felt his body was sore. He also felt a heavy wait on his chest. He lifted his head slightly and moved his groggy eyes to look down, he found a head of messy blonde locks splayed across his chest, loud snores filling the room. He also realized he had one of his arms wrapped around Naruto’s torso  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rested his head back against his pillow and looked at the ceiling. He closed his eyes again as memories of what they did yesterday flooded through his mind. He would say that yesterday was a pretty bad argument, it was so bad that Sasuke briefly lost it and laid a hand on Naruto. Although, he guesses he should thank his primal desires for...</span>
  <em>
    <span>preventing them to actually get into a physical altercation. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But last night, he was angry, sure </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he absolutely went overboard with Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He honestly didn’t know what possessed him to fuck Naruto like that, it was almost merciless</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This was their third time having sex, he was well within his right to blame his anger for blinding him to find a way to release his pent-up furry, but this was beginning to stretch into unknown territory…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t want to think about this anymore, this wasn’t something worth him pondering over, they were just mad, so mad he fucked Naruto like he was nothing...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was just very mad yesterday </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked down at Naruto again, his tan and naked body giving off a huge amount of warmth, </span>
  <em>
    <span>why was he always so warm?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke would never get over that. But something else caught Sasuke’s attention, Naruto looked so peaceful sleeping. He honestly can’t remember the last time he saw the dumb blonde look like he was in pure tranquility. Naruto nuzzled his cheek against Sasuke’s chest, still deep in his slumber. Almost instinctively, Sasuke raised his hand to bury it in the yellow spikes, he froze when Naruto let out a small sigh, but relaxed when he found that the blonde was still fast asleep </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke thought it was ironic, how he was once the source of all Naruto’s dismay. All the stress, pain, hardships, even giving the blonde a panic attack, </span>
  <em>
    <span>he would never ever forgive himself for being the cause,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but yet he had Naruto’s in his arms. And Naruto’s never looked more at peace, and here was with the ex rouge ninja </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Allowing himself to hold Naruto a little longer, he decided he needed to get up, he knew they were going to have that awkward convening. Usually, Naruto was gone when they fucked and they never talked about it or brought it up, though he can’t really blame the blonde for being too tired to leave before Sasuke woke up this time…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He ever so slowly lifted Naruto off his chest and placed him carefully on the small empty space beside him. Naruto stirred slightly, but relaxed when Sasuke laid the blanket completely over the bare boy. Sasuke briefly sat over the edge of the bed, he saw that their clothes were spread out all over the floor. He got up and picked up his own, he was so glad Naruto was asleep so he wouldn’t see the Uchiha in the nude like this. He picked up Naruto’s clothes and folded them neatly and placed them on the bedside table. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once he got a new set of fresh clothes for himself, he headed to the bathroom to tend to himself. Sasuke stepped out and was all taken care of and headed to the kitchen, not to sound like the whiny shinobi who was currently passed out on his bed, but he was hungry. He made his way over to his kitchen and took a look at his very humble pantry. The raven noticed that he had all the proper ingredients to make a simple ramen, which should be enough to satisfy his hunger. Speaking of the other shinobi, Sasuke should probably make enough for the both of them to eat, he could already hear the annoying cries Naruto let out when he was hungry. He set up a big pot full of water to boil on his stove, he chopped various ingredients and dumped them into the pot to flavor the broth. He set out a separate kettle filled with water and let that begin to heat up on the stove as well</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke also pulled out his favorite tea leaves from his pantry, he noticed he was running low on them, he was actually running low on a lot of other things, when he went on his travels he would need to stop by a stand or som-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey” Naruto voice rang out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke finished putting the leaves in the simmering kettle, he looked up at Naruto and choked on his own spit</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s black and purple eyes looked intensely at Naruto’s neck</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was covered in hickeys</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Did he actually do that? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What Sasuke?” Naruto asked again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your..” Sasuke couldn’t speak, he tried to point to his own neck hoping Naruto would get the idea “You ne-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you making ramen?” Naruto exclaimed as he ran over to look at the various things on the stoves, nose in delight as he smelled the cooking ramen </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke watched as the boy moved, his eyes still focused on the blonde’s very bruised neck </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What in the actual fuck got into him last night? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shook his head to clear his mind</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I am. Hungry?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Duhhh” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right. When aren’t you?” Sasuke said as he focused back on the foods on the stove</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto went back to seat himself at the kitchen table, although he winced slightly as he sat down against the chair. He was lucky Sasuke wasn’t looking at him because he was blushing very hard. Remembering how hard Sasuke fucked him last night and then remembering how he had fucked Sasuke on this very kitchen table. Naruto was too tired and hungry to be giving this weird anger release method they had any more thoughts, he had to remind himself that he wasn’t going to think too much into this again, even though Sasuke seemed to be ruthless and infuriated yesterday, they were literally so close to actually fighting this time, </span>
  <em>
    <span>it’s a good thing they got distracted…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He snapped out of his thoughts when a steaming bowl was placed in front of him, Naruto gasped in delight as he was practically drooling from just the mere sight of the ramen</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This small bowl?” Naruto questioned, his stomach grumbling </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Tch.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Start off with this bowl, if you want seconds then you can get some” Sasuke scoffed at the gluttonous blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then a pale hand carefully slid a hot cup of tea right next to his small bowl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And just one cup of tea?” </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde as he walked into the kitchen </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned his attention back to the delicious meal in front of him and rubbed his hands together as he smiled widely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait, where are my chopsticks?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly chopsticks were thrown at him, hitting smack in the middle of his face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gee thanks, what great hospitality” Naruto said as he rubbed his face briefly, regardless, he gave a quick thanks for his meal, picked up the chopsticks that were thrown at him, broke them apart, and wasted no time and slurping away at the noodles </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, Sas’ this is actually good” Naruto gratifies </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke soon made his way over to the table with his own bowl and tea “Actually?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who knew you could cook?” Naruto said with a mouthful of noodles </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Some of us have basic survival skills and don’t rely on instant ramen all the time” Sasuke threw, slightly disgusted at the ill-mannered blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had barely managed to break apart his chopsticks when an empty bowl was shoved in his face, he looked at Naruto who was smiling </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t even a minute...how?” said Sasuke, slightly in disbelief, he always knew Naruto could eat, but this had to be a new record or something. What kind of person ate ramen that fast, the bowl wasn’t even that small, Naruto was just being dramatic </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said I was hungry” Naruto shrugged </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blinked at the blonde, he got up and grabbed the bowl to once again head to the kitchen. He refilled it with more ramen and made his way back to the table. Naruto already had his hands out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke paused before handing over the bowl “Eat like normal people. The food isn’t going anywhere” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme” Naruto muttered as he took the bowl, eating slower than he’d like </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke finally sat down at the kitchen table and began eating his own meal. The two boys ate in comfortable silence, yet something hung in the air they both refused to acknowledge </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto slapped the cup down after he finished his tea. He burped loudly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Disgusting” Sasuke frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Boy am I stuffed” Naruto said as he patted his tummy in content </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke hummed as he drank his tea </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well...I should probably be on my way to the village now. I’m sure Kakashi-sensei is waiting to talk about the samples” Naruto said, he wasn’t going to ask Sasuke to come again, he didn’t think he could handle anymore heated argument, </span>
  <em>
    <span>both emotionally and physically </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Make sure you take the samples from here. I placed them in your bag” Sasuke said as he lazily pointed to where it was</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded as he raised from his chair, his neck once again being visible to the multiple markings Sasuke left him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke once again stared at the tan neck, cheeks slightly rising in heat. He should say something….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe, yo-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was cut off once again as suddenly pulled him up from his chair into a smothering hug</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for the meal. And thanks again for the help on this big mission. Once again you’re a big help to the village. We may have our...ups and downs...but the great things we always do when we’re together and working side by side” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get off of me” Sasuke said trying to push the blonde away from him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughed as he went to pick up his bags </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be back ya know” Naruto smirked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sighed “Please don’t”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So long!” and with that Naruto made his way out of the hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sat at the table a little longer, finally, the long mission was over. He hoped both the blonde and the village could come up with some answer to this problem. He also hoped that this long and eventful mission would be enough for Naruto to finally leave him alone in his atonement journey. He needed to do so much more thinking now…..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s mismatched eyes snapped open </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Narutos hickeys </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He never told Naruto </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shit, neither of them dared to bring anything about last night up</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was basically walking around displaying what Sasuke had done to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Though there was a low possibility that people would automatically assume Sasuke was responsible </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But still…..he was fucking embarrassed with his actions </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span> ***********</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was about late afternoon by the time Naruto arrived at the gates of Konoha. He eagerly walked through and waved at the two shinobi in the post by the gates. The two shinobi paused mid-wave as they stared at Naruto. Naruto didn’t seem to notice and kept on walking, making his way to the Hokages office. Not feeling like he wanted to walk the rest of the way, his body was still a little sore, he decided he was going to just leap his way over. It was faster and maybe it’d help with loosening his body back up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He jumped skillfully over the village and landed right on the windowpane of the Hokage’s office. He loudly tapped on the glass. This seemed to catch the Sixth Hokage’s attention as he rose from his desk and opened the window to let the blonde in</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jumped through the window and landed and made his into the office </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, you’ve finally come back” Kakashi said as he closed the window back up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I have! I told you we’d get it done. And I bring one more super important thing from the mission” Naruto chirped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that so? Well let me se-“ Kakashi froze mid-sentence when he took a good look at Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh? You okay there Kakashi-Sensei?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The white-haired man only continued his intense stare at the blonde in front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? Did I do something wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still silent, Kakashi barely raised an arm to point in the upper portion of Narutos body </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked down at himself “Do I have something on me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi simply pointed for Naruto to look at the window. Naruto furrowed his eyebrow due to his former teacher’s odd behavior but nonetheless walked closer to the window. Once he saw his reflections his eyes quickly focused on his neck. Naruto let out an actual squeal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke didn’t give him hickeys</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It looked like a bunch of leches attacked his neck</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bastard didn’t even try to tell him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His blue eyes widened </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kakashi-sensei </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He quickly turned around to find the Hokage with his arms crossed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Narutos face instantly turned a bright red “Wait Wait Kakashi-sensei I can explain!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He hoped….</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>boy do i love a good morning scene </p><p>yikesss Kakashi knows the tea now....👀</p><p>WHOS EXCITED FOR THE AOT CHAPTER TMR, I'VE LITERALLY BEEN OFF SOCIAL MEDIA ALL DAY TO AVOID SPOILERS OMG IM SCARED</p><p>comment &amp; kudos😘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto was blushing so hard right now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Hokage had an unreadable expression on his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really I can! I was-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I send you on this very important and confidential mission, one you begged and argued for may I add, and you’re fooling around” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I didn’t! I promise!” Naruto pleaded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then explain your...</span>
  <em>
    <span>appearance</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Kakashi said as he waved to Naruto’s neck</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I-I uh</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto stuttered “Got attacked by one of the monsters!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The chakra monsters did this to you?” Kakashi repeated, clearly not convinced by Naruto’s lie </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m telling you the truth! It did” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi began walking closer to the blonde, Naruto felt his whole body stiffen as the Hokage took a closer look at the boys neck, the blonde began to break a sweat </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi shook his head “For someone who’s been lying a lot recently, you sure haven’t gotten any better at it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Kakashi-sensei it really happened” Naruto hoped if he kept repeating it enough, his former teacher would believe him, his lie couldn’t have been that bad </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto you have incredible healing abilities, if you really got injured you probably would have been healed by now” Kakashi stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only sweated more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This has to be recent, and I’m surprised you managed to slip away and do this kind of stuff, especially with Sasuke being….. with…..you………...</span>
  <em>
    <span>wait a minute</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi looked up at Naruto with wide eyes, surprised as he pieced things together in his mind and reached an extremely shocking conclusion</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh Naruto...you and Sasuke didn’t…..</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Kakashi trailed off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-what are you talking about?” Naruto gulped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would have never expected you two to get there. And Sasuke? My goodness” Kakashi said in utter disbelief </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-Now wait a minute Kakashi-sensei. Just what are you exactly getting at?” Naruto said nervously </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It makes sense. There’s no way you would stray away from a mission. And they still look fresh, only Sasuke has the power to really cause some damage on you before your healing abilities kick in” Kakashi said connecting the dots out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you crazy sensei?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just never imagined you two would get intimate, after all these years-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto covered his ears as he blushed “Kakashi-sensei you perv! I think your reading too much of those porn books. Why would you ever think that?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s true isn’t it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“NO!” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look me in the eyes. With Jiraiya as your witness, are you telling me the truth” Kakashi said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damn Kakashi, he used Naruto’s weakness. The blonde kept his gaze to the floor and remained silent </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi brought his hands to rub across his face, letting out a deep sigh in the process </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto Uzumaki...you really are the world’s most unpredictable ninja” Kakashi sighed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only continued looking at the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And Sasuke? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke Uchiha?</span>
  </em>
  <span> I am in absolute shock, truly I am” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blush on the blonde’s face only grew fiercer with every word the Hokage said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two actually being together....well if you really think about it, there was always a deeper connection between you tw-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WE’RE NOT DATING!” Naruto shouted at the white-haired man</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not?” Kakashi asked “So how did you reach this point?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We...get angry” Naruto muttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Angry? You two do this when you’re angry?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well you know Sasuke doesn’t fight anymore, so when we get into our heated arguments that look like they’re gonna lead to us throwing punches or something...we...uh take out our anger in a different way” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi only blinked at the blonde “Is this why you’re so keen on seeing him Naruto? Surely you can control your needs some other way” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god...” Naruto brought his hands to cover his face, he had to resemble a tomato by now “No no no, I see him for the reason I’ve been telling you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But you’re having se-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING I JUST-” Naruto paused to take a deep breath from shouting at the Hokage “I honestly don’t know why we do it Kakashi-Sensei. Like I said, it just happens when we’re angry and fighting” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm, only anger. No feelings whatssoever?” The older man inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s right” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi shook his head “Naruto what about Sakura?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto felt a pang of guilt in his heart, he’s wrestled with that same thought before, and he knew he should stop, but he refused to think about this situation anymore, he just so confused but the guilt was always there lingering </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto held his hand up “Don’t mention her again...please...I know” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now it was Kakashi’s turn to remain silent, he couldn’t believe it. His two former students, formerly bitter rivals, one of them was supposed to have feelings for Sakura, and the other is the one Sakura has feelings for. Yet, they were doing...</span>
  <em>
    <span>those types of things together</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Kakashi is shocked, he really is, but it makes sense to him. The way those two were destined to always be together, there was bound to be something behind all those negative emotions that held them together. But Naruto was claiming this was some spontaneous thing they did to get their anger out in order to avoid fighting. It was odd, but this was between Naruto and Sasuke, he had no place to comment or make any judgment in this surprising discovery </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, I’m just going leave this to you and Sasuke. I will only caution you to be careful” Kakashi finally spoke out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a short nod, very embarrassed that his former sensei discovered the most secret and bizarre thing he and Sasuke were doing. And the Hokage just had to mention Sakura, as if he already didn’t feel bad for both lying and doing this behind her back. He wasn’t going to tell Sasuke about this. First of all, he didn’t even know Sasuke’s thoughts about what they did, even though he was the one to really start things. Second, he was pretty sure Sasuke would kill him if he found out that their old sensei realized they were having sex. Then that would only push Sasuke to block the blonde out even more, this was definitely something he was going to keep from the raven. This is exactly why Naruto didn’t like to this about this whole thing too much, he didn’t even know what this was in the first place and there were too many negatives brought in, at least Kakashi said he wasn’t going to speak about it. Still, it was really embarrassing that your former teacher caught signs that you and his other student were fucking </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Naruto said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi cleared his throat, hoping to move away from this very uncomfortable conversation </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I received all the items you and Sasuke sent me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto out a long breath, trying to clear himself of any former embarrassment “Good, we got samples from each chakra monster that was reported, plus the one we discovered in the Land Hidden in the Clouds” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good news. I am glad this mission proved to be worthwhile and gave successful results” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Told ya we could get it done” Naruto said “What are you planning to do with them now?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been putting a lot of thought into that very question. Obviously, we have to get them tested the problem is who and how, this is still confidential and all” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, I get that. So what should we do?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was planning on making a small team of researchers and lab shinobi specifically assigned to testing all these samples. Held to secrecy of course, I was also thinking of recruiting Sakura and Shikamaru. Sakura’s extensive knowledge of chakra and chakra control would be really useful, especially considering you two said the beast had a chakra flow that resembles one of a human. Shikamaru’s logistical skills would come into play when we began to focus on finding out where these came from and what possible agenda they’re being used to carry out. Again, they would be sworn to keep this all a secret and this would be included as a part of this confidential mission. We wouldn’t mention anything about Sasuke or Sasuke being involved in this either” Kakashi explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, you really thought this through” Naruto said, impressed that the Hokage had everything already laid out to cover every aspect of this weird situation </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is a very serious mission. We have been in the dark for long enough, it’s time for us to finally get some answers. Now that you two brought us the samples, we can get to work and crack this thing down” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! That reminds me” Naruto pulled off his backpack and searched through it, he saw Sasuke had packed the rock and flower samples along with the notes they took just like he said. Naruto handed them over to the Hokage</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s all this?” Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow, taking the new items from the younger boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke found these out in the forest, he said it looked like someone had dropped these by accident, so he picked them up thinking they were the original ones I found. But as you can see they look really pale and I can’t sense any of the weird chakras that the other samples have. But we took them to the lab in Sasuke’s hideout to look at them closely, and things only got weirder. We wrote down all the stuff we noticed on those papers” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see. Well it’s good he brought them to you. Anything related to this weird chakra ordeal is a huge advantage to have in our hands to study closer” Kakashi stated as he walked over to place them in his special sealed box where all the other samples were locked away in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We thought the same thing. When do you plan on launching the second phase of this mission then?” Naruto said as he walked closer to the Hokage’s desk </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m thinking as soon as today. I’ll put together a team, maybe call Tsunade back from her travels to head this study, maybe even Shizune. I’ll make sure to talk to Sakura and Shikamaru as well, this is a huge investigation now. We don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into, we don’t even know what we’re looking for or what we’d find. We have to get to the bottom as soon as possible, but still, be very careful about all this” Kakashi spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded his head firmly “What can Sasuke and I do to help?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You both have given us the most important things in this whole mission. I don’t think they’re anything left for you to do” Kakashi said, he looked up to look at Naruto directly “And remember Naruto, I allowed you to continue your visits with Sasuke strictly for his mission. He is a prisoner, you must allow him to remain on his personal journey. You have your own duties to attend to as well, you have to train and study hard for your Hokage duties” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto closed his eyes and balled his fist “Kakashi-sensei, I can’t do that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see now that you two are...doing things. But regardless of that, Sasuke is still on his punishment” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei can we talked about this another time. I just got back from the long mission and…” Naruto looked at the Hokage with something in his eyes “I’d like to rest before I can continue helping around” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi saw there was something in the way the blonde spoke, he was concerned over his student’s well-being. He supposes he can understand Naruto’s reasoning, Naruto just came back from a long and dangerous mission, he had just caught the blonde redhanded in being intimate with the raven and all the consequences that rose up, and now Kakashi had almost grilled Naruto over the topic he was still very sensitive around </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know Iruka came in the other day to scold me for working you too hard. In order to get him off my back, I promised him that as soon as you came back I would send you to the hot springs to relax” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His pesky sensei was still poking around for Naruto’s well-being, he chuckled at the image of Iruka yelling at Kakashi “That sounds nice actually, it’s been a while since I’ve been there. But I’m not weak! You know I just need a nice nap and a good bowl of ramen to be sent back into action. Especially with this big and important mission”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Make sure you tell him that, he thinks I’m the one forcing you to work overtime. He makes a good point though, no one is forcing you to go on mission Naruto. A lot of things have happened, no one is going to yell at you for taking a moment to really sit down and recover, and I don’t mean from a physical standpoint”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know and believe me, I understand everyone’s concern, but I really am doing okay. I’ve just been a little tired lately. I’m sure a trip to the hot springs will fix all that, or at the very least, be a huge help” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s arranged then. Go on home and rest” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to walk towards the door</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold on Naruto” Kakashi said as he dug in his drawer to pull put a scarf. He walked over to the blonde and wrapped it carefully around his neck </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can’t exactly have you walking around the village like that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto blushed had again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s hand came to rest on the boy’s shoulders “You did very well on your mission Naruto, I’m proud of you as always”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks Kakashi-sensei” Naruto smiled genuinely</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>BECAUSE I LOVE DAD KAKASHI AND HIS DUMB SON🔫</p><p>Kakashi said: Imma mind my business tho....👀</p><p>DID YALL READ THE FINAL AOT??????? WHEWWWW🦅</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto whistled as he walked through the village, hands behind his head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked through the village with one goal in mind: </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ichiraku Ramen </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After sleeping hours and relaxing as advised by Kakashi-sensei, he was now up and out in the village. After what seemed like too long for his liking, Naruto’s hickeys from Sasuke finally healed and he was in the clear. Naruto was still completely embarrassed that they were visible for his former teacher and Hokage to see and figure everything out, at the very least, they moved past it and all the things he wanted to avoid talking about. He was going to rest for a bit, even though he honestly didn’t feel like he needed it, he was going to listen to Kakashi and Iruka before they kept nagging him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Naruto-kun!” A high pitched voice called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stopped walking to face the person who called him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Hinata! Oh, and hey Kiba and Shino” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Greetings Naruto” Shino’s deep voice rang </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s up Naruto” Kiba smiled “Aren’t you forgetting someone else?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughed as he went to pat the white dog’s head “I could never forget about you Akamaru” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dog barked happily as he jumped on Naruto, knocking the blonde over and licking his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It appears as if you have competition Kiba, it is rare to see Akamaru behave in such a manner” Shino said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha, as if! He’s probably acting like that cuz Naruto’s been gone for a while” Kiba chuckled as he whistled his furry companion back off the tan boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have been away for quite a while Naruto. I assume its due to a mission” Shino stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto got up and dusted himself off “Yeah, Kakashi-sensei sent me on a really long one this time. Nothing too special, just tying up some loose ends after the war” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s rough” Kiba said as he shook his head, Akamaru whimpered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is expected, you are the prominent War Hero. It is understandable that your services given your abilities would be needed to reparations” Shino stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I guess, I don’t mind. I like going on missions, no matter how long or hard they are” Naruto shrugged </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright golden boy we get it. Don’t think that’s gonna help you become Hokage faster, I’m still a top candidate for Hokage too” Kiba smiled proudly as he puffed out his chest </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re still on that highly unlikely fantasy of yours Kiba” Shino said dryly, Kiba growled at the shaded boy</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’ll catch you guys later, I’m gonna go eat a nice bowl of ramen” Naruto said as he began to walk towards the direction of his favorite ramen stand, but suddenly he felt his arm being pulled by someone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-wait Naruto we’re actually uhm…” Hinata stuttered, Naruto looked down at her which only caused the purple-haired girl to blush deeply </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We were on our way to eat some Barbeque with the others, y-you should come” Hinata stammered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a great idea Hinata” Kiba said “We thought you were still off on your mission, but now that you’re back the whole gang will be together” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean I really don’t wanna be a bother” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dude are you kidding? We miss ya, we needed time to sit down and get together, especially after the war. Besides, Chouji is paying” Kiba smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kiba speaks for all of us Naruto, you’re presence will surely complete the atmosphere of companionship” Shino added, Hinata nodded shyly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well alright then, let’s go” and with that, the four shinobi headed off to their favorite barbeque restaurant </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they entered the restaurant, Kiba walked ahead to find their group </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look he we managed to find” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto!” The group of shinobi exclaimed in unison </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a smile “What’s up guys!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Long time no see Naruto” TenTen smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seriously, we thought you fell off a cliff or something” Chouji said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now Chouji you’re just being dramatic” Ino said as she rolled her eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t put it past Naruto, he may be super strong now but he’s still the same guy” Shikamaru simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s shoulders dropped “Great to see you guys too” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto we’re just teasing. We know you’ve been busy. Come sit next to me” Sakura smiled as she patted the seat next to her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto walked over to his teammate and sat down </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Naruto, are you coming back from a mission? Sakura just told me you were away” Sai asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I was. Just making sure things are okay after the war. Stuff like that” Naruto said nonchalantly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I expect nothing less from a prominent shinobi such as yourself Naruto” Lee said as he gave Naruto a thumbs up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gee guys, quit with the complements. I’m still the same guy ya know” Naruto waved off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe us, we know” Shikamaru stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah quit boosting his ego. You’re making it seem like he definitely going to be Hokage. I’m still in the running too” Kiba said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kiba we thought you were kidding” Ino said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s absolutely no chance for you” Sai smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you” Shino said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright Kiba, the power of youth shall compel you to find another career path!” Lee shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiba crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat “You guys suck” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This caused the tables to laugh, only causing the animal lover to sulk even more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving” Chouji spoke up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The group of friends agreed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In that case, WAITER FIVE SERVINGS OF MEATS!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t five too much?” TenTen asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is for me, you guys go ahead and order what you want” Chouji answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go ahead and add another five, so us normal people can eat” Shikamaru said as Chouji chuckled next to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Update me about you and the village. What have you guys been up to” Naruto asked the group </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Working for the Hokage. It’s a drag” Shikamaru sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That and hanging out with Temari” Ino said as she cocked an eyebrow teasingly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-What? I have no idea what you’re talking about” Shikamaru stuttered as he looked away, face heating slightly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha! Look at him he’s getting all embarrassed” Ino laughed, Chouji snorted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah we’ll let’s not act like you aren’t spending half your time getting friendly with Sai” Shikamaru threw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Ino blushed, Sai only drank from his cup to hide his own reddening face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If we’re done talking about who’s in relationships. Ino and I have been working on more combination attacks using our abilities” Chouji said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still mad you guys haven’t included me” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re always so busy” Chouji replied, Ino nodded firmly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Akamaru and I have also been creating more special attacks” Kiba smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In my best opinion, you two have perfected them. Considering you almost destroyed the classroom I was volunteering teaching in” Shino grumbled, Kiba only gave a nervous chuckle</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I saw that while I with the police force, I almost messed up a report watching Kiba and Akamaru drill dangerously close to the school walls” Sai stated </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“He almost did it by the Hospital too. Lady Tsunade was so close to pummeling him” Sakura teased </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was so scary” Kiba shuddered at the memory </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have been doing extremely rigorous training with Guy-Sensei. We are getting creative with his wheelchair. I am beginning to think I too should acquire a wheelchair...” Lee thought </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee I told you that you don’t need a wheelchair, you guys already do rigorous training anyways…” TenTen sighed “I’ve been working on some new shinobi weapons under an order from the Hokage” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The table all looked at Hinata, who blushed at the attention </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I’ve just been under my father’s wing, preparing to take the Hyuuga leadership” Hinata said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s our girl!” Kiba said as he swung an arm around the small girl, Shino nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled widely at his friends, he was overjoyed that they seemed to be in such good places after the war. He was proud and happy that they were on the path of their own destinies </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You guys are doing such great things! Man look at us, we’re really so close to reaching our goals” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s about time we did, we’re all capable of it” Sakura grinned at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The food was finally brought up to the table and served </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay enough talking, let’s eat” Chouji yelled, drooling at the large array of meats in front of them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The group of shinobi friends gave thanks for their meals and went to work cooking and devouring their meats </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about you Naruto, what’s next for you?” Chouji said with a mouthful of food </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhhhh well” Naruto swallowed his food “Everyone’s been telling me to relax for a bit so that’s what I’ll do for now. Then I’ll go back to my Hokage studying and training, I’ll probably go whatever mission Kakashi-sensei needs me to go on” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Take all the time you need. I’m really not looking forward to being your advisor when you become Hokage. I just know it’ll be a drag” Shikamaru sighed dramatically, already imagining the amount of work he’ll be faced with when Naruto’s undoubtedly becomes the Seventh Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you stressed or hurt? Don’t make me call Lady Tsunade to make you go back into recovery” Sakura warned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto isn’t weak. They’re just babying him” Sai said in his monotone voice </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For once, I agree with Sai. Everyone is worried about me too much for some reason” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The friends just exchanged a series of looks with each other. They knew the concern that is always surrounded by Naruto. It was the Nine-Tailed Beast, Sasuke, and his after-war mindset</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right, we’re just being too cautious Naruto. Sorry about that, we’ll back off” Ino said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-we’re just looking out for you, I care-” Hinata slapped a hand over her mouth, earning another round of looks directed at her. She blushed furiously again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-we...I mean we, care about you that’s it” Hinata struggled to spit out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you blame us Naruto, it’s always something with you” Sakura joked, making the table laugh again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heyyy, I always stay out of trouble” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and Kiba’s going to become Hokage” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m right here you know!” Kiba growled  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The table erupted in laughter again. Naruto ate in content, it felt good to be together as a group again. They have been so wrapped in so many things, Naruto was away training with Jiraiya so he never got to grow up with these guys more. Then they were swept up in the war, betting to risk their lives. Now they were all together again, carefree and eating with joy at finally having their lives back, looking forward to their current endeavors and futures</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Naruto felt like something was missing, rather someone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although even as kids Sasuke was never the social butterfly, to be fair neither was Naruto. But Naruto’s worth and dedication were finally recognized and he was still with their friend group. He knows the same thing would happen to Sasuke. Sure things were rocky when looking at Sasuke’s past but Sasuke was a huge reason the war was won, Naruto couldn’t have defeated everything without the raven. He had fought hard, hell he was still fighting hard for the Uchiha to come back. Sasuke was missing out on all this, instead, he was wandering the land by himself wallowing in guilt and self-deprecation. Naruto didn’t care if he was helping other people along the way, he could do that here with him and their friends. As much as Naruto loved being together with his friends and the fact that they were all so happy, Naruto just couldn’t fully enjoy anything with his best friend, especially after having him gone for so long and having him so damn close. Maybe Naruto could convince Kakashi-sensei to make his next mission to make Sasuke scrap his dumb punishment and make his return to the village for real…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...anyways your thoughts Naruto-kun?” Lee’s voice called out, making Naruto snap away from his thought </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh? What’d you say?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee gave him a funny look “I was just saying if you agreed with the opinion of well-done meat over medium or rare” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Sorry I must have checked out for a second” Naruto chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe you do need the break, you spaced out there for a good moment there” TenTen said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seriously, not too long ago I was literally standing next to Naruto calling his name for a good five minutes and he didn’t even realize it” Sakura said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No kidding, he bumped into Hinata a while ago” Kiba said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t say? As a matter of fact, Naruto almost bumped into me by the library” Sai added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn Naruto, you losing your grip or something?” Chouji asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps a rest is what you require” Shino told the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys I’m fine really” Naruto said as he put his hands up in surrender “I think I have just been tired for a while” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Glad they’re making you rest then” Hinata smiled, the tabled agreed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only gave a light laugh, although he was embarrassed that all the events his friends listed as him spacing out, were incidents in which his mind was preoccupied with a certain Uchiha, he had done it just now. He really needed that trip to the Hot Springs now...</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>THE SQUADS BACKKKKKK, this was a lil sumn happy I wanted, but Naruto missing Sasuke still hits 🤚🏻</p><p>we halfway through the story yall OOF</p><p>anyways I've started watching boruto again cuz I took a small break to watch some other animes but I need to catch up, all I got to say is these kids are bout useless but Imma keep watching cuz I have hope and things are getting good </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Naruto get out of the village” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because if I have to hear Iruka yelling at me one more time about how much I’m keeping you from truly relaxing. I might kill him and I might kill you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto snorted as he was being pushed by the Hokage out the village’s gates, Naruto had spent a couple of days staying at home. He thought that was enough relaxing for him, he was ready to jump right back into the action. But his break wasn’t long enough for his teachers’ likings, as Kakashi-sensei was literally pushing him out the door, </span>
  <em>
    <span>well gates </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I already spent a long time relaxing. I’m okay to go back on missions. I’m not broken ya know” Naruto called out over his shoulder </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t call sleeping all day, eating nothing but ramen, and training hard relaxing” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would…” Naruto muttered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look we said you would take a nice trip to the Hot Springs, and that’s what you’re going to do. I already booked a private spring for you and everything. Take an actual break. It’ll be good for your bones too” Kakashi said as he gave Naruto one final firm shove out the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Kakashi-sensei-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No buts” Kakashi said cutting off the blonde “It’s nighttime too. The springs are always better at night, it quiet and calm. Go and have a nice soak” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And with that, the Sixth Hokage turned his back and walked away. Naruto tried to call the white-hair man again, but the gates to the village were harshly closed shut front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto huffed, shoulders dropping slightly “Fine.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began walking in the direction to where the Hot Springs, it was just in the village over. He looked up above him, the sun was beginning to lower. By the time he would get there the sky would be dark by then. Naruto honestly thought this was a bit excessive, he felt fine. Sure what he did most people wouldn’t call relaxing, but those couple of days off were just what Naruto needed to take it easy for a bit. Not that he didn’t enjoy the Hot Springs, who didn’t? It was just boring when it would be just him there sitting like he was being boiled in some soup </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto got an amazing idea </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could bring his best friend, surely Sasuke would be keen for a nice trip to the Hot Springs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After all, they haven’t seen each other for a few days, Naruto thought that was ample time for Sasuke to be alone and meant Naruto was due for another visit. And just his luck, Sasuke’s hideout was on the way to his vacation spot. Naruto ran a little faster in the direction of Sasuke’s hideout, a little giddy at the idea of a certain raven joining him for a relaxation trip. As he ran through the forest, the sun was getting lower and lower, but Sasuke’s chakra only heightened within his senses. Naruto spotted the underground hideout and ran towards it, he saw the raven sitting on some random tree around it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Sa-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go away.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The immediate harsh and cold tone made Naruto stop dead in his tracks. He looked up to the raven, Sasuke only kept his back to Naruto, gaze kept on the horizon </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, someone’s grumpy, more than usual…” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not in the mood Naruto. Leave me alone” Sasuke said coldly again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah you never are” Naruto jumped on the branch the raven was currently sitting on. He was about to yell at the gloomy man but was cut short when he saw the look on Sasuke’s face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It looked...</span>
  <em>
    <span>empty </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke are you okay?” Naruto said, startled at how much his voice was laced with concern</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke picked up on Naruto’s tone, his face softened slightly as he didn’t want the blonde to worry about him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine. I just want to be by myself” Sasuke said in a monotone voice </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think I left you alone for enough” Naruto tried to joke, this drew no reaction from the Uchiha </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The reason why Sasuke was in such a bad mood is he just returned from a small trip of wandering the land and doing some deep self-reflection. Just as what always happens when Sasuke is in his thoughts for too long, he makes that harsh realization of the terrible reality he’s in. He’s a criminal, an outlaw, a rogue ninja who did so many terrible things because he was blinded by hate, wasting so much of his life fighting. He did so many bad things, hurt so many people, he regretted it. His biggest regret was standing next to him, yet somehow he didn’t hold anything against Sasuke. Even though Sasuke hated it, it didn’t matter, Sasuke would always hold himself accountable for all that he did to Naruto. He hated himself so much, this why he wanted to be alone. Not that he couldn’t sit with the weight of his actions, Naruto would always just be a reminder of his biggest mistake, he didn’t want Naruto to suffer because of him. So yeah...he is in quite the bad mood </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, Kakashi-sensei is forcing me to go to the Hot Springs. I wanted to see if you wanted to come, I’d be bored if I was there with no one else” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No thanks” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon it’ll be fun” Naruto slightly bent over and lifted Sasuke’s face, trying to observe the pale face in the fading light “Besides, you look like you really need it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke slapped the tan hand away and scowled “I said no” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You just proved my point! You’re all tense and grumpy, well to be honest you’re kinda always like that” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only deepened his scowl at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Get up we’re going” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, for the hundredth time. I can’t just go anywhere. I am a prisoner, who is supposed to be carrying out his sentence” Sasuke pointed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhuh yeah” Naruto said, totally ignoring what Sasuke said “Anyways it’s night and Kakashi-sensei booked to be a private spring. So there’s no risk if that what you’re worried about” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose “Naruto, I said no” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You mean to tell me you’re gonna miss out on a free trip to a Hot Spring. When was the last time you actually went to one” Naruto pried  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And is that supposed to help your case” Sasuke said unimpressed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep!” Naruto pulled Sasuke’s arm to pull him up “Let’s get a move on before it’s too late” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stayed firm in his spot “Naruto I said I don’t want to go” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll carry you myself if I have too” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t” Sasuke said weakly, he was just not feeling the blonde’s antics at the moment</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, the blonde elbowed the raven in the side. Once Sasuke bent over slightly at the impact, he stood in front of Sasuke and lifted him on the blonde’s back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke tried to get off Naruto, struggling profusely, his excessive movements almost caused the both of them to topple over. Naruto quickly caught his balance and held on to the raven’s legs much for firmly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme, stop moving! You almost cause of to fall of this tree” Naruto snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said </span>
  <em>
    <span>NO</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Why can’t you just listen to what I say? Put. Me. Down. Now.” Sasuke said as he kicked more furiously</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly Naruto hopped down the tree and began running at lightning speed, the sudden movement caused the raven to wrap his arms around Naruto’s neck to keep himself from falling off. He looked at the blonde extremely angry </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You fucking idiot” Sasuke growled, Naruto only let out a shit-eating grin as he ran towards the Hot Springs</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a long and bumpy ride, </span>
  <em>
    <span>literally</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the two finally reached the place. Naruto stopped to allow Sasuke to hop off his back, once he did, Sasuke did not hesitate in delivering a blow to the side of Naruto’s head. The blonde let out a whine and rubbed the pained spot. Luckily Sasuke still had his cloak on from his journey and pulled his hood up to cover his face, he still didn’t like his face or Rinnegan to clearly visit when he’s in public</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright come on. Stop being mean” Naruto grumbled as the two boys walked into the facility </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto walked up to the check-in desk, Sasuke staying far behind, face still hidden </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello! I’m here to check in” Naruto smiled at the elderly women in front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course, what is your name?” Her frail voice said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto Uzumaki” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The war hero? It’s an honor to have you here, the Hokage did an adequate job for booking you and your sweet partner” The women smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a surprised sound, Sasuke blushed as he lowered his face in his hood even more</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh n-no, that’s not my-” Naruto struggled to explain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The old woman handed Naruto two pairs of robes, towels, and slippers. Naruto took them as he was still flushed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have fun, I hope the private spring is to your liking” The old woman said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, thanks” and with that Naruto nodded for Sasuke to follow him, and the two boys walked to the private spring that was reserved just for him. The two boys went into separate changing stalls and came back with a towel wrapped around their bottom halves. They walked out to observe the water, Naruto let out a grin </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe Kakashi-sensei was on to something by sending me on the Hot Springs. Being here makes me just want to jump in” Naruto said as he walked towards the water </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke closed his eyes to let the blonde undress and get into the water, even though they’ve seen each other naked more than they should have, he still felt embarrassed to see the blonde nude when they weren’t in those situations. “Yeah sending you, not me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a deep sigh as he sunk into the water, this was exactly just what he needed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look over there, there’s a naked girl” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A what?” Naruto said as he turned to look at what the hell Sasuke said, but the raven was gone. He looked in front of him and Sasuke was already in the water, eyes closed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You perv” Sasuke said flatly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme! You just caught me off guard” Naruto grumbled as he lowered himself in the water </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke opened his eyes again to look up at the sky, it was full of stars. Even though he was dragged out here against his will, the hot water did wonders for his aching sore bones and muscles </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto popped out of the water and enjoyed the warm water on his skin, melting away any tension he had in his body </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I needed this” Naruto said as he now gazed up to the twinkling sky </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a simple hum in response, allowing himself the rare chance to relax when suddenly felt water being splashed at him. He wiped his face to look at the blonde, a dopey smile plastered on his face  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The raven narrowed his eyes dangerously at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m bored. Let’s do something fun” Naruto chirped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s bad enough you forced me to come here with you. The very least you can do is let me sit in the water and actually relax, just like you’re supposed to be doing” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I did that!” Naruto said “But now I’m bored” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I’ll tattle on you to Kakashi” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t doubt you. Considering you actually write to him” Naruto mumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke rolled his eyes at the hung-up boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto swam up to the pale man and once again attempted to pull him by the arm “Sas’ c’mon. What was that one game when used to play as kids whenever we were at a hot spring” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keyword being kids” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop being a downer and tell me what it was. The one where we would pretend we were pirates looking for gold” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“First of all that was all you, I ignored you. Second, the gold you always looked for was you trying to sneak a peek in the girls Hot Springs” Sasuke said dryly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “That’s not true!” Naruto said as he blushed, Sasuke only gave him a bored look </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto the whole reason you were sent here was to relax. Can’t you just sit still for a while” Sasuke threw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sighed as he let go of Sasuke’s arm, he looked at the raven and pouted, Sasuke picked up a heated towel and threw it at the blonde’s face to block him out. Naruto quickly peeled off the wet rag and glared at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re no fun ya know that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My feelings are hurt” Sasuke said bored, closing his eyes again to focus on relaxing  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto huffed, he now positioned himself to be right in front of Sasuke, inching his face closer to press his lips against Sasuke. Sasuke eyes snapped open </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> He broke the kiss “Naruto what the hell?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto opened his eyes and blushed, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what the hell did he do? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was bored” Naruto said quietly, although he had no idea why the fuck he just did that </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t just randomly kiss people when you’re bored!” Sasuke said flustered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You weren’t giving me any attention”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There are other ways to get someone’s attention Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto didn’t know what has gotten into him, he wasn’t mad, well he was annoyed, but he was mad enough for them to resort to those ways. But he wanted Sasuke’s attention...that’s what he’d call this new feeling he was going through </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto put his hands on Sasuke’s hips and glided him through the steaming water to sit on his lap, he breathed in sharply when he felt their dicks press against each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was shocked at the sudden movements, he was suddenly in Narutos personal space, bodies pressing again and each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked down at Naruto, Naruto only stared intensely back. He raised a hand to wipe away at the inky wet locks that framed his pale face. He paused briefly to looked deep within those black and violent eyes he likes to see. He then ran a finger down his face, brushing his fingers softly against his lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shivered at the gentle touches and caresses from Naruto. What were they doing, this was new. This wasn’t what they did, this wasn’t anger, he didn’t know what this was, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto leaned in again, closing the gap between them once again. Slowly, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto’s neck, turning his head slightly to deepen the kiss. Naruto used the newfound position to stick his tongue in Sasuke’s mouth, tasting as much as the raven as he could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Desperate for more, Sasuke grinded his hip down, their shafts growing hard at the contact. The kisses grew more sloppy and reckless as they grinded into each other. Naruto broke the kisses and went down to kiss Sasuke’s neck, at the same time lowering his hand under the water, grabbing both his and Sasuke’s cocks in his hand</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke moaned softly at the sensation. He buried a hand in Narutos hair, he pulled back a bit hard so Naruto was facing him again. He crashed their lips together again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to rub their hard dIcks against each other, his hands twisting both of them through the weight of the water. Sasuke moaned into Narutos mouth, this only encouraged the blonde to go faster. He pumped their cocks faster, the feeling of Narutos hands and the rippling warm water sending Sasuke into bliss </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>N-Naruto…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke moaned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto bit hard on Sasuke’s collar, almost breaking the skin, this earned him another sinful noise from the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke started panting, hand tightening in Narutos hair harder. The steam and pleasure was driving him over the edge</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s own grunts were heard as he tried to both jerk the both of them off and kiss as much of the pale skin as he could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hah, fuck N-Naruto</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke groaned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>S-Sas</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto said between movement</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke made a weak noise, finally, Naruto had built enough pleasure that Sasuke came when Naruto pressed their weeping heads together. He threw his head back and moaned loudly, Naruto reached his climax with the sensation of their pulsing dicks, he bit Sasuke’s shoulder to stifle his moan</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them stayed like that for a whole, the once clear hot water now being clouded with white. Sasuke’s hand was still tangled in Narutos hair, Naruto was resting against Sasuke’s shoulder. He lifted his head up to see his teeth mark on the shoulder, he pressed a light kiss on it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>….what the actual fuck happened, what was this? </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>.....now what in the world did we just witness between these two. </p><p>IM GOING SHOPPING TOMORROW, FINNA DROP A BAG CUZ I DESERVE IT 🤪</p><p>comment &amp; kudos MUAH♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“How was your trip?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Relaxing”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good to hear” Kakashi said “I suppose I expected to see you a little more talkative” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto shrugged “I soaked in hot water and relaxed, what more can I say”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I understand” Kakashi said as he walked through the fields, Naruto walking next to him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the day after Naruto’s Hot Spring trip, his short little vacation was over. But before Naruto would jump back into the action, Kakashi had to assess the future Hokage’s wellbeing for himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know the lady who worked the Hot Springs sent me a very kind letter, very humbled that she could host the great War Hero of the Fourth War” Kakashi spoke again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a nervous gulp, he really hoped that was all the letter mentioned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, a very kind letter indeed. Very detailed too, especially regarding the part where our famed War Hero brought in his partner with him” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Damn, just his luck.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto lowered his head in embarrassment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now Naruto I’m not here to scold you. Considering that you and Sasuke have your own ordeal going on. But it looks like you’re beginning to be reckless with this” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not being reckless. I just wanted him to relax with me, that’s all” Naruto muttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t doubt that you had good intentions. But must I constantly remind you about the situation that Sasuke is in?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I know he’s under lockdown or whatever, but it was just taking him to go chill Kakashi-sensei” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is more than a lockdown. He is a prisoner who is currently serving out a sentence that I gave him and he agreed to. You keep letting personal feelings push you to get in the way of all this” Kakashi tried to get the boy to understand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi I said I don’t want to talk about this anymore” Naruto said, growing frustrated </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t have to bring this up if you would just heed my warnings. I mean Naruto, you brought him to a public setting. I know he was against that, you can’t keep forcing him out like this”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to be warned about anything Kakashi-sensei! You don’t say anything when he goes into the public when he’s on his dumb little journeys he goes on himself. And if I was really forcing him, why isn’t he putting up more of a fight then?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi stopped walking, Naruto noticed and stopped in his own tracks. He saw that the Hokage was looking at the lowering sun, a flock of birds flying nearby. Distracted by the sight, Naruto was startled when he felt Kakashi-sensei place an arm around his shoulders, he looked up at his former teacher </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, you know I care about you very much” Kakashi started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at the sudden profound words, he nodded his head wordlessly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I care about Sasuke too, you both are more than my best students or best shinobi. I am telling you this because I just want to avoid any more pain than you have already experienced. As I said, I’ve allowed you to see Sasuke because of your passionate arguments about how important it is for you to see him and that these will be productive visits, aimed at a mission. Now you are continuing to see him for personal reasons. These aren’t dumb journeys that Sasuke goes on. These are moments that he used to reflect on everything he did, no matter how gruesome they are, Sasuke fully acknowledges his mistakes and must deal with them. And Naruto...one day you will understand why Sasuke is so persistent in pushing you away and tiptoeing around you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took in Kakashi’s words, he would not retaliate this time, just because he would respect the fact that the Hokage cared about him so much. But despite this, Naruto knew deep within himself that the older man was wrong, everyone was wrong, Sasuke was especially wrong, he knows what the raven was only doing more harm by being alone on these useless attempts to be for the benefit of the broken boy  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I acknowledge that you and Sasuke’s relationship has shifted-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No it hasn’t” Naruto said cutting off Kakashi, blushing in embarrassment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...right. And it’s not my business and as I said, I am not here to scold you. I won’t stop you from making contact with Sasuke, it would be a waste of both of our times. Just be careful and really think about Sasuke’s situation” Kakashi ended</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi can I be honest” Naruto finally spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s my best friend. I know what’s best for him and I believe that. That’s why I won’t give up on him. I didn’t back then, I’m not now, and I’m not gonna do it anytime soon. Sasuke deserves and needs to be back in this village, and I will make that happen” Naruto said firmly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You truly believe this is the right thing to do Naruto?” The white-hair man spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know it is Kakashi-sensei. I hear your concern and I thank you for how much you always look out for me. But I’m never wrong when it comes to Sasuke, this is what best for him and will help him come to terms with what he did”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at the older man, Kakashi was now looking down at him. The Hokage raised his hand to ruffle it against the blonde spikes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t change Naruto. Always such a pure heart” Kakashi smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a smile of his own as his former teacher smothered him, he was really lucky to have Kakashi amongst other great masters that he had </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t do anything crazy. I can promise you that much” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You and I have very different views on what we consider crazy” Kakashi said, half-convinced at the blondes words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah Yeah, man you and Iruka are always so worried about me” Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure Sasuke says the thing about you” Kakashi teased, the blonde let a small growl knowing that the bastard has most definitely have </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi, Kakashi-sensei! Naruto!” Sakura’s voice called out from the other side of the field</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why’d we have to meet all the way out in the fields. I totally could have been taking a nap” Shikamaru sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura-chan, Shikamaru! What are you two doing out here?” Naruto asked, he was glad to see his friends but a little confused as to their sudden appearance </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth asked us to meet him here” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Said it was important too! We hurried as fast as we could!” Sakura said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s easy for you to say, you made me carry you basically the whole way here” Shikamaru said as he crossed his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Unlike you, I don’t spend my days complaining. I am on my feet all day running all over the Hospital. I deserved a break more than you” Sakura said, unapologetic that she made the clever ninja give her a piggyback ride </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” Shikamaru threw back lazily, Naruto snickered at the interaction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve asked you both out here so we could talk in private, Naruto is here because he is an important part of all this” Kakashi spoke to the newly arrived shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh? What is it?” Sakura asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m assigning you both to a new important and highly confidential mission” Kakashi said in a strict voice </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two shinobi listened a little more attentively given the seriousness in the Hokage’s voice. Shikamaru nodded his head for the older man to continue </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto has discovered some highly powerful and strange chakra, it is said to give off this strange feeling as well. I sent Naruto on a mission to see if we could find more and there was, 4 out of the 5 lands had this strange chakra and they formed these chakra-powered monsters” Kakashi explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Chakra-powered monsters?” Sakura said, a little startled at this wild news </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All over the lands at that?” Shikamaru added</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s weird, believe us we know” Naruto said, if only they knew the process and what he had to go through to get this little bit of information </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So where are they now? Should we be worried about possible attacks here and with the other lands?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry Shikamaru, Naruto took care of the monsters, he even got samples from them for us to analyze” Kakashi told the boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto really is being more useful, maybe he really is gonna be a good Hokage” Shikamaru yawned, the blonde gave him an angry glare </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shikamaru is just teasing Naruto” Sakura said “Well that’s good that we have pieces of these things to study...but what does that have to do with us?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah yes, thank you for reminding me!” The Hokage smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh boy, why’d ya have to ask” Shikamaru groaned </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You both have the perfect skills we need to shift into the second phase of this mission. Shikamaru, we have no knowledge of where these came from or what there here for, so we need your expert logistical and rational thinking skills to build strong theories based on the data we get back from the labs” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru gave a nod at the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And Sakura with your extensive knowledge and expertise with the various types of chakras and chakras nature, we need you in our labs overlooking the samples and data. Making your own well-versed theories of what they could possibly mean and the true nature of their strangeness” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Understood, I’ll help out as much as I can” Sakura said, giving her own nod to the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Make sure to run everything by Naruto, he is the one that can sense this chakra and its weird properties. If you need any more information, Naruto will try his best to fill any gaps or get the information you need” Kakashi added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Believe it!” Naruto said with determination </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll make sure to give you all the details we have about this mission, only us four and the small group of lab shinobi that I will assemble to analyze the samples will be the only ones to know about this mission. The Kazekage is also working on his own report and will soon share its result as one of these chakra-powered monsters were found in the Hidden Sand Village as well.  As I mentioned previously, this mission is to be kept in secrecy, absolutely no one is to know about this. There is so little we know about this that makes it even more dangerous, do I make myself understood?” The Hokage ended </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crystal! We’ll get this all figured out!” Sakura said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sigh, more work for me? As if I don’t have enough to do...” Shikamaru said with another deep sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto hooked an arm around the other two shinobi and smiled “With you two on the mission, we just can’t lose! Everyone say team in 3...2...1” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Team!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Uh Team?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What a drag” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m literally the Hokage” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let go of his friends and stood next to the older man  “What do we do now Kakashi-sensei?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s head back into the village and get these two familiarized with the mission. I’ve already had a group of laboratory shinobi begin running tests and analyzing the samples. We’ll let Sakura and Shikamaru look at what they have so far and start brainstorming” Kakashi instructed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The shinobi agreed and all four ninjas made their way back to the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No wonder you’ve been all over the place Naruto, you’ve been dealing with this and sent on that long mission just to find these things” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And all alone too! You’re doing great work Naruto!” Sakura added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s no trouble, just doing what I can for the village” Naruto said, even though Sakura and Shikamaru were now a part of this super-secret mission, there was still so much they were being lied about and were so far from the truth </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The four ninjas finally arrive in Konoha and began making their ways to where the village had its labs</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh brother, let the hard work begin” Shikamaru groaned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Quit being such a downer, it’ll be fun!” Naruto told the lazy boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easy for you to say, you already did your part of the deal. Now all the little things have to be done by us” Shikamaru said, Sakura nodded helplessly behind him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi was about to say something when his, and everyone else’s, attention was caught by a shinobi who was running and calling for the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth! Lord Sixth!” The lab shinobi called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes? What’s the matter?” Kakashi answered quickly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We ran some test on the samples you gave us and we made a shocking discovery. You have to hear this immediately” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t keep us guessing! What did you find?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The properties of the chakra are still very complex, but we managed to isolate a certain aspect of it and we undoubtedly can conclude that Naruto’s chakra is within the samples, each and everyone one of them” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto felt his heart drop </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>…….so wtf we bout to do now? 🥴</p><p>I JUST WANNA SAY SOMETHING TO YOU ALL CUZ I AM SO SO SO HAPPY THAT YOU GUYS ARE THROWING YOUR THOUGHTS, OPINIONS, IDEAS OUT HERE, ESPECIALLY WITH NARUTO BEING SO CLINGY AND BELIEVE ME GANG I HEAR YALL LOUD AND CLEAR (I be saying it all the time too😭) BUT I JUST CANT SPOIL ANYTHING BECAUSE THERES STILL SOOOO MUCH OF THE STORY TO GO AND I WANT TO KEEP BUILDING THE ANGST, SUFFERING, DRAMA, AND FRUSTRATION (what can I say, I like being messy🤪) BUT ALL I CAN SAY IS I PROMISE THINGS WILL PICK UP. KEEP YOUR THEORIES AND ANGST THOUGHTS  COMING I LOVEEE SEEING THEM♥️</p><p>ALSO I WENT SHOPPING AND LET ME TELL YOU I GOT THE GOODS, I GOT A PRIMITIVE ITACHI, GOKU BLACK, KAKASHI, AND SAILOR MOOM SHIRT, THE PRIMITIVE GOKU BLACK SLIDES, A SASUKE AND NARUTO SHIRT WHEN THEY WERE LIL GENIN, AND A DEMON SLAYER SHIRT LIKE YESSSSSS MY ANIME MERCH IS GROWINNGGGGGG AND IM SO OBSESSED WITH PRIMITIVE </p><p>Comment &amp; Kudos ✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto’s blood ran cold</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“....this...must be some sort of miscalculation” Kakashi spoke slowly, he wasn’t sure he fully processed those startling words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth, believe me, we are all as shocked as you are. It was due to that shock that we had to make sure we weren’t mistaken. We spent the whole day cross analyzing the sample with the chakra we have from Naruto in our databases. Naruto Uzumaki’s chakra is most definitely present in this sample” The lab shinobi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it can’t be Naruto. This has to be a mistake!” Sakura said with a frown </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura-Chan is right. How are we sure that Naruto’s chakra is associated with these things that seemingly came out of thin air” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I urge you all to come and look at the data yourselves” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The group nodded, although Naruto remained still</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His chakra?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But how? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t make any sense from this finding </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt a pair of soft hands on his face, he looked into jade eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto we’ll look into this okay? We know you have nothing to do with this, we just have to look for clearer answers” Sakura smiled</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tried to find reassurance in her words, this news caught him so off guard. Sakura gently tugged on Naruto’s arm to guide him into the lab where the other shinobi were </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two walked to find Shikamaru and Kakashi huddled together and looking intensely at the documents and data the lab had put together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Hokage placed the papers down and looked off into the distance. Shikamaru did the same, expected he turned to face the blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s the news?” Sakura asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s…his” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto fist tightened </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I’m not behind this! I didn’t create this” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto calm down please. This is unfavorable news to all of us, but we definitely aren’t suggesting you're behind all this” Kakashi said as he placed a reassuring hand on his student’s shoulder </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is crazy, how could these damn things have a piece of me in them?” Naruto said “this just leads to more confusion and unanswered questions”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We need to figure out how these monsters managed to get some of his chakra incorporated in theirs” Shikamaru stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura nodded her head “You all said that there were other types of chakra yet to be discover or distinguish right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lab shinobi affirmed her statement. Sakura tied her hair and pulled on a lab coat</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I’ll help find them. This will help us get the answer we need and help Naruto get out of this mess”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura is right. We can’t waste any more time now, we have to act fast given this important discovery. I’ll start my theories and explanations immediately and adapt them with every new bit of information or data” Shikamaru said as he picked up piles of paper to start his own work </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two work diligently with the lab, we need answers.” Kakashi said “Naruto, you come back to me in the office”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two ninjas went to work, the blonde and the Hokage made their way quickly to the Hokage’s office. As soon as they got there, Kakashi locked the door and made his way over to sit in his desk chair with a deep sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei I swear I don’t know anything about thi-” </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi held his hand up to cut the blonde off “No one is blaming you for this Naruto, I know you wouldn’t do anything to cause this mess. We just need to take a step back and assess the situation more carefully” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took his own deep breath and waited for the Hokage to continue </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you absolutely sure you have no idea how your chakra could have gotten mixed up with these weird creatures?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure.” Naruto said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright” Kakashi said as he put a hand on his chin to think about this deeply</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe this is happening, nothing makes sense anymore…” Naruto muttered to himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I agree with you. We just have to wait until we get more answers. You don’t need to worry about this, with Shikamaru, Sakura, and the team of lab shinobi working on this we’ll get answers soon enough” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen Naruto, in the meantime, we need you to lay low and make sure we’re monitoring you through all this” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked up the Sixth Hokage “But I told you I’ve got nothing to do with this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know and I absolutely believe you. I’m just concerned for your safety that’s all and I want to make sure we have on eyes on you to see if we could pick up any clues about who or what managed to get some of your chakra” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right…” Naruto said “Is there anything I can do to help?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just stay close and help the team in anything they need. I have a feeling this is going to be a long mission” Kakashi sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto said silently, but suddenly a thought popped into his mind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait Kakashi-sensei, we have to tell Sasuke this!” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What for?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have to keep him in the loop and he might know something about this, especially if it has something to do with me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I agree with you Naruto, but I am worried about letting you out of my sight more. We don’t know if your chakra might stretch into these things again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be even more careful, you know I look over my shoulder. Besides, I know Sasuke and I defeated these monsters for good, they aren’t coming back” Naruto said with confidence </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose you know these things better than me. And Sasuke’s thoughts in opinions wouldn’t hurt in terms of gaining some clarity in this mess…” Kakashi thought out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be careful sensei, I understand how serious this is” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi was a bit taken aback but this rare occurrence of pure seriousness from the blonde, but as always, he never doubted Naruto’s words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very well, detail Sasuke about everything and make sure you get any thoughts he may have about all this” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded his head with determination and began to run towards the door </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait Naruto” Kakashi said, Naruto stopped and turned to look at the white-haired man</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Be careful please</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled, he was really lucky to have such a great sensei like Kakashi who always looked over him, even though they butted heads sometimes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I promise” and with that, the blonde was off to the Uchiha’s hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ran quickly through the forest, relieved that he sensed Sasuke’s chakra within range. He ran straight into the hideout and burst inside, finding the raven in the kitchen looking like he just came back from buying something</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke quickly turned around to his intruder and sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, must I remind you that you shouldn’t be coming here anymo-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke now is not the time to be arguing about that. I have serious news and you need to hear this” Naruto frantically cut off the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke furrowed his brows at Naruto’s behavior, he figured he should at least hear the blonde out, he had that look on his face whenever he was serious about a dire situation. Sasuke gave a curt nod to let Naruto know he can continue </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei had a team of lab shinobi to work on analyzing the samples and Sasuke...they said my chakra is mixed with the weird chakra” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes widened “What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They said that there were so many different elements within the chakra but once they picked up that I was in the chakra mix, they ran like a million of tests. They got that it’s my chakra Sasuke, they’re so sure!” Naruto said with worry </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only blinked and turned his head to look at the empty space in front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fucking hell Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sat down at the kitchen table and put his face in his hands and let out a deep sigh, this was too much for him to handle. How in the world did his chakra get rooted in all this. Naruto never encountered or did anything to put himself in this position. But there he was, now did he do this subconsciously? While he was still raging out in nine-tail mode? Did someone make him do this and erased his memories? Maybe he did something and he just can’t remember or thought nothing of it at the time…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt a sudden sharp pain in the space between his eyes, he rubbed it and looked at the perpetrator </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get out of your thoughts, I know that look” Sasuke said as he just flicked Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re starting to think this is all your fault” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked back down “It could be and I just don’t know it…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Quit blaming yourself Naruto, god that’s such an infuriating habit of yours” Sasuke frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>BUT IT COULD BE ME SASUKE!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto yelled, despite the sudden rise in tone, Sasuke remained with that same unconvinced face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry Sas’ I’m just…” Naruto looked up into mismatched eyes “Scared. I know I couldn’t have done anything to end up being involved with these things. But you heard em’, my chakra was mixed into weird ones” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto we still don’t know anything about it yet. Is it strange that they found it, yes. But they still don’t the other elements in the chakra. Now is not the time to jump to conclusions” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only shook his head “I guess... I just wanted to tell you and see what you thought” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke once again saw the downtrodden look on the blonde’s face, and it upset Sasuke. He didn’t want Naruto to place the guilt on himself, not again, not around him. Call Sasuke crazy, and he swears he is whenever the dumb blonde is around, but he knows Naruto could not be responsible for whatever this was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sat across from Naruto “Alright then, let’s talk” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto raised an eyebrow at the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said you wanted to get my thoughts. Let’s talk everything out from square one so I can make a reasonable enough theory” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So I came across this chakra because I sensed it. It was so weird but so strong, that’s what drew me to it. What also drew me toward it was the feeling I got, it felt like I’ve sensed it before, but I’ve never come across it. When I tried to find the source, it led me to these wilted flowers and rocks. But when I sent you to find it again, you said it was gone. But you found some of it and you said it looked as if someone had dropped it back by accident” Naruto started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, go on” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I did research on this type of chakra and in the book, I found it said that if somebody comes across this kind of chakra that you’re either connected to it or you’ve seen it before” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mhm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then we went to go find these monsters that had this chakra and were powered by it and took samples. While we did that, you came up with a theory that they somehow only come after me but don’t attack you. After that, we got all the samples back to Konoha, and as part of the first phases of the test their running on them, we find out that my own chakra nature is in there” Naruto ended </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke thought about this deeply, what was both a logical and rational reason for Naruto’s chakra being mixed up in all this. And as much as he prided himself for being the intelligent one, he was coming to a blank </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well Naruto quite honestly I don’t know what to tell you-” Sasuke said but was cut out when Naruto whined </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>But</span>
  </em>
  <span>, what I can say is that something or someone managed to get ahold of your chakra, whether you allowed it deliberately or not, but they got it. We just need to know how and why, sadly I don’t know enough either to give you a more solid answer” Sasuke finished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well that’s still better than nothing. Kakashi-sensei and the others said something like that” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What does Kakashi think?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Basically the same thing, he’s convinced that I’m not involved. So did Shikamaru and Sakura, Kakashi-sensei put them together to make theories and study the chakra from all aspect”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Already taking proactive steps I see, it’s just like him to move this fast” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sighed “How could I let this happen... “ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto didn’t I just say that you have nothing to do with this. In a situation where we have little to no information about should not be where you start to blame yourself just because your name was mentioned” Sasuke frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s shoulder dropped slightly, he guesses the raven was right. His mind was just still running with everything he’s heard that he’s just doesn’t know what to think anymore. It stresses him out, there were two extremes. He either is responsible for or this or isn’t, and Naruto wasn’t sure which side he saw himself in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What we need now is answers from an expert who knows about this and can come in from a different perspective, but who….” Sasuke wondered </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>dayummmmmm, the tea is HOT 🍿</p><p>WHO GOT TICKETS TO SEE THE DEMON SLAYER MOVIE, COME OUTSIDE I JUST WANNA TALK 🙂 *puts on black air forces and plays NBA Youngboy* </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS BABESS💕</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean experts who can look at this differently?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Like someone who has considerable knowledge about chakra, or at least can provide credible theories to a situation like this, but has creative methods” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto put a hand to his chin to think, someone who knew their stuff but thought outside the box? </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait, he knew just the person</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke I think I know who to talk to!” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I do too” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You first” Naruto prodded </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“As much as I hate to say it, and since we’re in such a dire situation where we have to use our last resort options, we might have to talk to Orochimaru” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a surprised noise, this was such a drastic option </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure Sasuke?” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Like I said, just an option. A very very bad and should be ignored option. But he is one of the best lab shinobi there is and knows his chakras. If anyone knows anything about a weird situation involving chakra, it would be him” Sasuke said, knowing that Naruto might not be ready to see the shinobi this soon given everything that has happened, and honestly, Sasuke wasn’t sure if he was ready himself, there were still bitter memories </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“No no, I get it. I understand…” Naruto said, a little shaken up that the raven would be bold enough to say that name </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’d you have in mind?” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Grandma Tsunade!” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s actually not a bad idea. She is the prime kunoichi, she most definitely has knowledge on chakra natures and what their origins are as well as what they’re made of” Sasuke nodded at the idea</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly! There’s no way she doesn’t know! She was the one who spotted the Mist creature in the first place and kinda knows the information about this. I think the only reason she hasn’t looked into this more carefully is because she left it in our hands. Kakashi-sensei even said he was thinking of her bringing into this phase of the mission to oversee lab efforts” Naruto explained </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“There you go. Lady Tsunade should give you some answers”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Only problem is we have no idea where she is. She’s traveling around in search of medical stuff. The last time she checked in was a week ago and she was in some little village by the Land of Earth” Naruto said </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well it’s better than nothing. She must have stayed there for a while, if you went to her right away you’d probably catch her. Use that as a starting point and sense her out” Sasuke offered </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not a bad idea Sasuke. I’d have to go right away thought” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“We are in an emergency. Do what you have to do?” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right” Naruto said “And you’re coming with” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto was in a sensitive place right now, Sasuke had to choose his words carefully </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“And why would that be?”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“We gotta find more answers and to help grow your theories” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto you don’t have to go through all that trouble for a thought I’m not even completely sure about” Sasuek sighed </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“No but I want to do this, we need this information to help push things and explain why in the world I’m in this mess. We find Grandma Tusnade first, update her about the situation and get her thoughts then….” Naruto paused </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the awkward pause. Naruto took a deep breath and looked at Sasuke with that same serious look he had earlier </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Then we do the same with Orochimaru” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes widened “Naruto...I said he’s not an option we should actually consider”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard ya. But we’re in an emergency, and I have to do what I have to do” Naruto said repeating Sasuke’s words </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s still too early Naruto</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke in a softer tone, Naruto knew what he meant </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no choice Sasuke. This isn’t all about me, this is for the protection and benefit of the village” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke briefly closed his eyes, he knew he shouldn’t go with Naruto, he was a prisoner actually. But there was something in him, maybe it was his subconscious, maybe his guilt, that made him want to accompany the blonde on such a personal mission. After all, Sasuke could absolutely relate to going on a journey to find questions about something….</span>
  <em>
    <span>dammit how was he going to fully atone for his sins at this rate? He had to stop after this, he just had to. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“For the village” Sasuke nodded as he got up “We have to hurry if we want to pick up a trail on Lady Tsunade” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>For once, Naruto gave a large and genuine smile, Sasuke was actually going with him once. Without fighting or hesitation! Maybe things could begin to look up for Naruto </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a long trip. We need to get ready to see Lady Tsunade. We have to tell Kakashi about this so he can provide us the means of travel and give us time to pack. Especially with something as sudden and short notice as this. The fastest he could probably give us the things we need would be tomorrow, in the meantime, we could see Orochimaru” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” was all Naruto managed to say </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be there with you dobe, don’t stress this. It’s hard for me too” Sasuke told the blonde</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave the raven another little smile for the reassuring words, appreciating the honesty as well </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Me? Stressed? Ha as if!” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Could have fooled me” Sasuke replied flatly </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever, let’s go. We’ll send word to Kakashi-sensei on the way over” Naruto said with a determined smile </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>And with that, the two boys were off and on their way to see the ex snake shinobi. Just as planned, Sasuke called upon his messenger bird to send word to the Sixth Hokage. As it flew down, Naruto scolded the bird for hitting him in the face the last time they called it. And to Sasuke’s delight, the bird began to peck at Naruto’s head in response to the scolding. The message was sent, they knew Kakashi would move swiftly to their request and provide them with everything they needed </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The two finally made their way to the hideout, meeting Anbu black ops instantly.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Man, they sure were keeping Orochimaru under wraps</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Naruto thought to himself. As they approached, the Anbu promptly stopped them and told them they weren’t allowed to enter. But before Naruto had a chance to run his big mouth off, Sasuke spoke </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to speak to Orochimaru. This is business concerning the safety of Konoha” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Orochimaru isn’t allowed visitors. Especially from the likes of you Sasuke Uchiha” One of the Anbu members told Sasuke coldly </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the shinobi, he understood the sentiment, he would react the same way, he’s fully aware of his crimes. However, before Sasuke could reason again, an angry-looking Naruto walked up dangerously close to the Anbu member </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You watch how you talk to him bastard. He’s a war hero and is paying for his crimes, he’s not here to cause trouble. And if you need any more evidence I’m here with him” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The masked ninja stayed silent </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Woah woah, what’s the commotion out here?” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s ears instantly recognized that voice </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Captain Yamato!”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto? What are you doing here? And with…” Yamato paused when he caught wind of the Uchiha </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke kept the same strong gaze everyone had on him. They were treated him as an unleashed animal who was on the brink of chaos, again he doesn’t blame them </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re here on strict confidential business from the Hokage” Naruto stated</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“With….him” Yamato questioned </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s part of his sentence. I’ve been assigned to watch him cuz we’re using his abilities for a mission” Naruto said firmly, highly impressed he came up with that lie smoothly </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“A confidential mission that includes Sasuke and Orochimaru. And Lord Sixth hasn’t sent any word to me about it” Captain Yamato said unconvinced </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Like I said, it’s confidential. Kakashi-Sensei also said by being here with Sasuke and going here would show you how serious this mission is” Naruto added </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The captain took a moment to think about this. He was fully aware of the rocky relationship that Naruto had between these two figures, he witnessed it first hand. It was suspicious that the Hokage didn’t say anything, but Naruto would never lie or put himself in a situation like this if it wasn’t for something serious </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Yamato raised his hand “Alright everyone easy up on your guards. They are allowed access for this mission”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a smile and nod before he could gesture for Sasuke to follow him, a pale face with wide eyes occupied his personal space </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Be advised, if something is to happen we will not hesitate in interfering” Captain Yamato said eerily </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto shuddered, he always hated when his old team leader did that creepy thing. Sasuke only stared at the odd man with a perplexed expression. Nonetheless, Naruto and Sasuke walked straight into the guarded hideout. Although the bravery and confidence he just had was fading away the closer got inside the dark hideout, Sasuke noticed this and stopped Naruto briefly </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I can go in myself, it was my suggestion after all” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m fine. I’m just…” Naruto trailed off </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke held his arm out, Naruto stared at it confused at first. But quickly understood what the raven meant. He grabbed Sasuke’s forearm and stood close</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank Sas’”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever...scaredy-cat” Sasuke muttered as he blushed slightly. He just didn’t want to let the blonde be nervous and let foul memories throw him off. Sasuke is not the same person he was back then, he wanted Naruto to know that. He would actually be by his side this time, he’ll consider that one of his greatest atonements</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>With Naruto holding on to Sasuke, the boys entered the main room where Orochimaru was in</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well if it isn’t my pride and joy and destroyer” Orochimaru said as he looked up, snake-like face barely being illuminated by the sparse light in the room “What’s this? The famed Naruto Uzumaki accompanies him?”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Orochimaru” Sasuke spoke out </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“To what do I owe the visits of the two most prime shinobi, I was almost certain I wasn’t allowed any visitors” The older man said </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“We need answers from you” Sasuke said in a monotone yet firm voice </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Answers? What a request. I would like some answers of my own. Have you’ve two resolved your rivalry so much you’ve become enthralled with each other?”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The boys blushed at the comment, yet Naruto refused to say anything or separate himself from Sasuke </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You forget I managed to kill you” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Still cold as ever Sasuke. Even when you’re asking someone a favor you must be rude” Orochimaru grinned </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke and Naruto only looked at the man, gazes showing that they meant business </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“My, you two are serious. Ah well, I suppose I’m not doing much these days anyway. What is it that you would like me to answer?”   </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to know something about inserting someone else’s chakra with another different chakra” Naruto spoke finally </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“What an odd question, I wonder what its background is based on?” The snake shinobi asked </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t need to know that. Just answer the question” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Now what’s the hurry Sasuke. Allow me to give it some thought so I can give you my best answer”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The raven kept his eye locked on his former master </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Well obviously you have to have two different chakras. How you get these chakras are up to you. But in order to insert them into one another or fuse them is through the use of expert chakra manipulation. Make no mistake of confusing this with a regular wind or fire-based chakra comparison. I’m assuming you are referring to the chakra of a person” Orochimaru explained </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Something along those lines. Powerful too, and gives off a really weird feeling” Naruto added </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You tempt me with this intriguing scenario you have laid out. If you are feeling that from a chakra in which someone’s chakra has been inserted, most of the time it’s going to require more than one chakras”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They did say there were other elements in the chakra samples </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You will require a third-party chakra. More specifically, if you are combining that of two humans or beings, you need a third chakra base that comes from a completely different source. See if I were to mix my chakra with you Naruto, I would need a common factor as you can call it to tie it together and balance it out. I would use the chakra of an annulment or a summoning animal. The possibility is limitless”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Sasuke took this information carefully, this began to clear up some things </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s all. You provided accurate information and the answer is sufficient enough to the one we were looking for” Sasuke said with a short nod, Naruto nodded as well </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad I could be of service. Do visit again soon, I get quite lonely these days” The older man smiled </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Tragic” Sasuke turned his back with Naruto still on his arm and walked out of the hideout </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Orochimaru watched at the powerful shinobi left </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Just hope it’s basic level ones and not multiple powerful chakras being mixed into one….” Orochimaru said into the empty room </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>THOUGHTS GANG?🎤</p><p>im literally so excited for these next chapter omg </p><p>ALSO QUESTION CUZ INMA TRYNA SEE SUMN: do yall see Hinita &amp; Kiba as a couple? (I do) </p><p>comment &amp; kudos &lt;3333</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto stood over the boat’s railing, gazing at the night sky. His mind was racing with everything that’s been going on, and especially the information from Orochimaru only made him grow more concerned. Something or someone had taken his chakra to mix it with another powerful chakra. But why, what was the goal here? Orochimaru only provided information about how this process could happen, which is super helpful. But with those answers, came only more questions. Naruto still worried that he had something to do with this, there was indisputable evidence of him being in that chakra but just how and when? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop thinking so hard, it’ll hurt you” Sasuke said as he walked up the deck to stand beside Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a breath through his nose, still keeping his eyes up</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde didn’t even bother to retort, he really had a lot on his mind. Sasuke didn’t like seeing Naruto like this. It was out of character, and when Naruto was sad or upset Sasuke either assumed he was responsible for it or it brought up very unpleasant memories. Call Sasuke soft, but he gave up fighting and realized his errors after he finally saw the pain Naruto went through for Sasuke, he refused to see Naruto in that same state ever again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s own mismatched eyes looked up at the sky, he was always fond of the darkness, funny how he wanted nothing to do with it now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke do you really think I have nothing to do with this” Naruto spoke out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I already told y-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m serious. Don’t just say things to spare my feelings, I want your honest thoughts” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke turned his gaze to face the blonde “Yes Naruto I’m completely certain that you have nothing to do with this. If I believed you were involved, I promise you I would have done something to you by now to get to the bottom of all this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Blunt as ever” Naruto said with another weak laugh “But thanks, I appreciate the honesty” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I get that you’re having doubts and personal conflict, but this isn’t your fault. You had nothing to do with this, you’ve just been told a simple piece of information and you’re  jumping to drastic thoughts” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled at the raven “You’re starting to sound just like me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s nothing don’t worry about it” Naruto said as he turned to face the raven “I can’t help it. There are just so many things going on and stuff we don’t know about, I guess that the only rational thing I can do is blame myself and try to use that to answer things” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would hardly call it rational. This is just you always taking the blame for stuff, you know everything isn’t your fault. You don’t always have to fall on the sword for the sake of others”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I can’t do that Sasuke. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect the village, and sometimes taking the roughest hit is easy if it’s for something worth protecting” Naruto spoke, a new feeling inside him as he let those words out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke tried to understand what the blonde was getting at, but it all sounded like the same humble and selfless speech Naruto always preached. Although when it came to protecting things, he never thought about it as much as Naruto did, his body always seemed to act on its own, but he’d hear Naruto for the sake of making him feel better </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose I can’t argue with your way of thinking” Sasuke said simply </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a first” Naruto said with a small smile, Sasuke was glad to see the playfulness and cheery blonde start to come back out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke pulled out the map and compass to see their progress as they traveled to the Hidden Stone Village. The two boys were glad Kakashi managed to get them suited for this very spontaneous mission. However, it didn’t come for free, as they could tell the Hokage was very pissed at them, given the message he sent in response to theirs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Supplies and a boat will be available tomorrow. Captain Yamato contacted me about your visit, I will immediately be seeing the both of you as soon as you return</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><b><em>HK</em></b></li>
</ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Shit Sasuke, I think he’s mad” Naruto had said nervously </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What makes you think that?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“He’s meeting us at the hideout. He’s leaving his Hokage duties to come to see us. Boy are we gonna get it” Naruto whined </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regardless, their former sensei did provide them with the resources they needed to track the Fifth Hokage. The two boys would get there by the time it got dark again, the raven concluded, they have been traveling for quite a while. Unlike the last time they had traveled for a long time, Naruto had remained to himself and quiet the entire way, it felt very unusual to Sasuke. Even though he very much enjoyed the peace, this wasn’t like Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll be there by the next night” Sasuke stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good. Boy, I hope we find that old woman, she’s always been known to never to be in one place for too long” Naruto said with a small sigh </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even so, not even she can travel that fast. We’ll find her” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve been weirdly keen on this mission. I’m starting to think I’ve won you over” Naruto smirked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As if” Sasuke scoffed “I just hate when you place the blame on yourself” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw Sas’! You really do care about me” Naruto says as he put his hands together and pressed himself against the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Annoying” Sasuke said as he pushed the blonde off him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess I never really said thank you for coming on this mission either, even if it was literally at the last minute” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Forget about it, it’s for the village and to clear your name” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How can I ever repay you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you actually leave a prisoner alone to serve his sentence out?” </span>
  <span></span><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry can’t do that, you’ll have to settle for this!” and with that Naruto leaned in, making obnoxious kissing sounds. Once again the raven tried to fight him off with pure disgust </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a loud laugh at Sasuke’s actions, even though he was ready to kill the idiot, he was glad to see Naruto in a much better mood </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Usuratonkachi” Sasuke frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What a busy village” Naruto said as he walked around </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke hummed as he kept his head down, face hiding behind the darkness of his hood </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The local people of the Hidden Stone Village were bustling all around, the nightlife in full swing. Naruto enjoyed this for two reasons, one, the people here were back to their normals lives and enjoying peace after the war, two, the crowd meant no one could easily detect the two shinobi</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you pick up her chakra?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep, she should be right here!” Naruto stopped walking and looked at where the Fifth Hokage’s chakra was at </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A bar?” Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Tch</span>
  </em>
  <span>, of course” Naruto said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys walked inside and looked around, being able to spot the woman on a booth all the way in the corner. They nodded to each other and walked to it, sitting directly across from the prime Kunoichi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade looked at who had dared walked up to her, but relaxed when she saw who it was, but still confused </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you two doing here?” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We could ask you the same thing Grandma” Naruto said as he crossed his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How many times do I have to show you to show some respect, especially after you have some nerve of showing up out of the blue” Lady Tsunade said as she whacked Naruto on the side of the head, Sasuke actually had to hold in his laughter </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, I thought you were away” Tsunade said as she focused her attention on the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s an emergency” Sasuke simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older blonde raised an eyebrow “An emergency? I’m not drunk enough for this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is an emergency! It’s about the weird chakra situation” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm, alright go on then. What’s the problem?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We got samples from all the creatures to study the weird chakra. And when they began to analyze them, they found my chakra within it” Naruto explained</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade’s eyes widened “What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How could this be?” The Fifth Hoage said in shock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Grandma Tsunade I promise I have nothing to do with this! I just don’t know how my chakra managed to get mixed up in all this. I wonder if I might have done something when I wasn’t fully aware or maybe-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was cut off when he felt Sasuke put his hand on his thigh, he looked at the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was also said that his chakra was present among others. So his isn’t the only one there, but we have no information to see what this means” Sasuke told the woman </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see. Well what information do you have?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We know that it’s definitely my chakra. Kakashi-sensei has a group of lab shinobi running more tests on it. But we went to Orochimaru’s and-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You went to Orochimaru?” Tsunade now cut Naruto off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, but like we said we are in a tough situation right now” Naruto said, he felt good enough to continue talking about him since Sasuke’s hand was still on his thigh, it strangely gave him some comfort “We asked him how something like this could happen. He said that someone could be wanting to mix chakras to form a new chakra. To do that they would need chakras from someone or something and the third one from a completely different source to act as the glue” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade leaned back against the booth and thought about this deeply. Her fellow Sanin was correct in his explanation, how in the world did anyone or anything manage to get their hands on Naruto’s chakra </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what we need to you, is how someone got my chakra” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Orochimaru is correct about the process. But before I can answer, let me ask you this”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure you haven’t seen that weird chakra before?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m 100% certain” Naruto answered the older woman </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright. There are other ways someone can get chakra if you’re creative enough. Maybe by getting it directly from a person, perhaps a weapon they use, or maybe from secondary sources….” Tsunade trailed as something popped into her head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” Naruto asked as he noticed she stopped suddenly </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Secondary sources. That would mean like when you share chakra with someone or something” Tsunade’s blue eyes peered into Naruto’s “Naruto you shared your chakra with everyone during the war” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a noise of shock, Sasuke listen even more intensely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Grandma Tsunade that was so long ago, and so many shinobi. We were fighting together as one! Those shinobi were good soldiers fighting for a common goal, that couldn’t possibly be the case” Naruto said, he refused to think a shinobi like that would do something to create this chaos </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Except it wasn’t that distant. I’m just giving you my opinion based on the reality of the situation Naruto, I know it may sound nasty but it may be the most logical way to explain how your chakra was out in the open to be taken” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stayed silent, Sasuke gripped the blonde’s thigh a little tighter at the news </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Switching over to the issue of how they could use this power and create these things. I’m thinking they used some kind of amplifier” Tsunade added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Amplifier?” Sasuke asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah something that could combine these chakras and make the monsters. Like an amulet, jutsu scroll, a totem, anything really” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Orochimaru did mention something like that” Naruto said softly “I can’t believe this…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just giving you what I think Naruto, I could be wrong. But given the information, we know and based on recent events, this seems like a possible explanation” The Fifth Hokage said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sat with this for a bit, how could someone manage to do this, have this in mind with a war going on. Naruto saw the shinobi in the midst of battle, all of them were pure of heart and were willing to lay down their lives to protect Naruto, the world, and the unity of the lands. There just was no way one of them could be responsible for something like this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope I managed to give you the information you were looking for” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a deep sigh “Yeah, it definitely helps. Thank you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know this a weird situation Naruto, but we have to be realistic with our facts and assume the worst. Especially in a high stake situation like this where we have no idea what’s going on and know so little about it. Like you said, there are many more questions that need answers and we can only throw out guesses, even if they seem bad” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laid a hand on the pale one that was on his lap, this was not what he expected </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Alright? Who y'all blaming now? 🤔</p><p>BRUH READING YALLS COMMENTS ALWAYS BE HAVING ME LIKE 🥺💖😭♥️🥰 💞 I LOVE YOU ALL SMMMMMM</p><p>AND IM SO GLAD YALL SEE KIBA &amp; HINATA CUZ I KINDA HINTED THEM IN THE BEGINNING AND YOU'LL SEE SOME MORE SO I JUST WANTED TO SEE WHERE YALL STOOD👀</p><p>also if anyone knows wtf to do when only one airpod pro works and not the other one, lmk cuz my joints been tweakin 💀</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“My head hurts” Naruto grumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I heard you the first time” Sasuke said “That still doesn’t explain why you can’t walk”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My mind is in too much pain to tell my legs to move”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Funny how you weren’t in pain when you whined for an hour for me to carry you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only held on to Sasuke tighter, as he successfully managed to get the raven to give him a piggyback ride on the way to the hideout. Naruto let out a huff as he rested his chin on Sasuke’s shoulder </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You owe me after I carried you to the Hot Springs” Naruto huffed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never asked you to carry me or to go” Sasuke said, blushing slightly at the memory there, he still refused to acknowledge the events that went down were completely different from anything they’ve done before </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we there yet?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto start whining again and I will strike you will lightening” Sasuke muttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So mean” Naruto pouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a while of walking through the forest, the two boys finally reached the hideout after their long journey of hunting down the Legendary Sanin. Although, they noticed someone sitting right outside of it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, he really came…” Naruto whispered nervously to the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the figure, he stopped right in front of them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two have finally arrived” Kakashi said as he closed his book, looking at the two boys intensely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-Hey Kakashi-sensei! What’s up” Naruto chuckled nervously</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I cannot believe you two would do something like this. And have the audacity to show up looking as if you just came back from some rendezvous” Kakashi started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that last part, but Naruto quickly hopped of Sasuke’s back in order to avoid Sasuke finding out that Kakashi knows about their little angry antics </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei we can explai-“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto how many times do I have to tell you about the risks of doing these types of things, I expected better from you” Kakashi cut off the blonde harshly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto froze at Kakashi’s stern words, he turned his gaze to the ground</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I allowed you to go visit Sasuke to relay this new information, by no means did I tell you to hop off on some self-designed mission. As if that wasn’t enough, you went to go see where Orochimaru was held. I was able to figure out the lie you had concocted to Captain Yamato for your reason to not only showing up unannounced but bringing along our prisoner Sasuke. But of course Naruto you just don’t stop there, you went to go and hunt down Lady Tsunade, again bringing Sasuke along. You understand that this is a strictly confidential mission Naruto, we cannot just do spontaneous things with so many risks and expect their them to be no consequences. I only allowed it because you already acted on it, as you have such a bad habit to do so and I barely managed to clean up your mess”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s shoulder dropped at the lecture, words hitting him like kunai knives </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You leave me no choice, until further notice Naruto, you are not to engage with this mission or future mis-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a shocked noise as he heard Kakashi say his punishment, Sasuke noticed this immediately and struck his arm out across Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi, Naruto had nothing to do with this. This was all my doing” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi paused mid-speech, attention now focused on the raven who stood in front of him, protecting the blonde behind him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you lying to me Sasuke? Just to protect Naruto” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No I’m not. Once Naruto told me what the lab shinobi had discovered, I suggested the idea to find more information from people who had a considerable amount of knowledge and expertise on chakra. I convinced Naruto to come with me as this was something I would consider as my repayment duties towards Konoha for its protection” Sasuke spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Sixth Hokage took the raven’s words carefully. Sasuke did not appear to be lying at all, and Naruto still kept his gaze on the ground, no reaction to the Uchiha’s words. This could perhaps be the truth...Now he was even more shocked. He was shocked when Captain Yamato contacted him and told him what the boys came for, Tsunade telling him a similar tale. He could have sworn Naruto was the one responsible for this, he always did things like this. But here he was listening to Sasuke taking the blame for all this, which came as a surprise to the Hokage. But Sasuke had said it was his ways to contribute to the benefit of the village as a part of his atonement journey. Sasuke was well aware of all the risk but still took this on for the Hidden Leaf, maybe Sasuke had changed. Kakashi was witnessing it right now, Sasuke was standing out for his actions, refusing to let Naruto fall on the sword for him as the blonde had done for all these years. Kakashi just couldn’t decipher the difference between this change and whether it  was due to Sasuke giving up his dark ways or given his new relationship with Naruto, maybe both </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi gave a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose “Sasuke if you weren’t already serving a sentence….”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was an emergency. I had to do what I had to do” Sasuke repeated his words, Naruto finally looked up at Sasuke, a small smile making its way on his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stood up for him. It felt...unreal. How many times did Naruto do the same for Sasuke. Even if it wasn’t on a much grander scale, but Sasuke had taken responsibility for all this. A part of it was true, but Naruto was the one who pushed Sasuke. Yet Sasuke was the one falling on the sword, it made Naruto feel that same unfamiliar feeling whenever Sasuke did something serious for him. Kakashi-sensei’s hard words had some reason to them, but just as his best friend said, drastic times calls for drastic measure </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright fine. Maybe keeping you out here is doing you some good. But Sasuke, that still doesn’t mean what you did can be so easily excused. You out of everyone should be aware of the extreme risk of you being out unless you are well hidden and prepared” Kakashi told the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke remained silent, yet his mismatched eyes never left the Hokage’s gaze. He was aware, of course he was. He was always a problem, a problem to himself, a problem to the village, a problem to Kakashi, and a problem to Naruto. He could sit with the first few, he already has, but he wasn’t going to let Naruto get dragged down for his actions anymore. He swore he wasn’t going to be the cause of Naruto’s dismay, he was a different person. He didn’t care what happens to him, he deserves every punishment he’s going to get. But Naruto was another story, Naruto was never going to suffer because of Sasuke ever again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As I mentioned, I just barely managed to go along with your lie and kept this mission under wraps. Since you put me through all that trouble, I expect the information to have been worth it” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come inside the hideout, we can talk privately in there” Sasuke said, Kakashi agreed and the three shinobi made their way inside the hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sit at the table, I’ll make tea” Naruto instructed as he pulled out a chair for his former sensei and made his way into the kitchen. Despite this basically being Sasuke’s prison cell, Kakashi watched Naruto move around here as if this was his own home. The Hokage could guess the blonde probably familiarized himself with the place considering the number of times he barged on Sasuke. It could also be because they have a newly established level of</span>
  <em>
    <span>….friendship. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yeah, that’s what Kakashi is going to call it. But Kakashi was snapped out of his thoughts when the Uchiha sat in front of him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright so this crucial information” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When we went to go to Orochimaru we asked him what would the process of mixing chakra together to get a chakra like this with both the power and feeling. He explained that in order for this to happen you need two different chakras and a third one from a completely different source like from an object to hold them together. He mentioned that this requires both skill and expertise so we can assume that someone is familiar with this process” Sasuke started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see…” Kakashi said “Go on” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded “Then we went to go find Lady Tsunade and ask her how someone or something could have gotten a hold of Naruto’s chakra. She came to the conclusion that when Naruto shared his chakra with everyone during the war, someone took it from there and sealed it away for later use. Then agreeing with Orochimaru’s explanation about the process, she said that one would need an amplifier, like an amulet or jutsu, to combine them and make it stronger to either create or control these monster” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sat down three cups of tea to everyone and took a seat next to Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This was still super helpful information and answered a lot of questions, but it also made new questions” Naruto said “Everyone said I had nothing to do with it…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And that’s still something we believe strongly in Naruto. Now we know how someone managed to get your chakra. I am just upset that it could be someone within the five lands, just when we managed to get peace too, by your hands of course” Kakashi sighed as took a sip of his tea </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It just can’t be someone from war Kakashi-sensei! Those were good shinobi fighting out there by my side!” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have to face the hard realities of this situation Naruto, you heard what the Sanin said, and the evidence against you. This is the most logical explanation we have for right now” Sasuke said, Naruto let out his own sigh</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke is right Naruto. Although I don’t approve of how you all got it, this information is just what we needed to support the discoveries we made in the lab today” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys perked up at those words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You guys found something else out?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s right, we managed to finally take apart and isolate the chakras. And we found out that there are a total of four different chakras, including yours Naruto” Kakashi stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Four?” Naruto repeated in shock</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not only that, we found a common element among all of this. I’m thinking maybe its remnants of a possible amplifier that you say is used to power and combine these things” Kakashi said “Sakura made the discovery of the common element, and Shikamaru came up with the theory that this common element could always be the reason why these creatures acted the same way too. I’ll let those two know about this new information you two got” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is the meaning behind all this…” Naruto said out loud as he gripped his cup tighter </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever it is, we’re close to finding out. We just need to keep taking active steps like this one” Sasuke said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t say active steps like the one you conducted Sasuke” Kakashi said, Sasuke only remained silent </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You both are right, we’re slowly adding things up, we’ll get to the bottom of this” Naruto said with determination. The other two shinobi nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A silence fell over them, Kakashi cleared his throat “So uh Sasuke, Naruto tells me you two have been-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>CAW</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sudden intrusion of a messenger bird interrupted the Hokage, shocking the three shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A messenger bird?” Kakashi asked as he took the message and read it, his eyes grew wide as he read the contents </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s been an emergency at the village...” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto shot up from his chair “What? We have to go right now” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Agreed. Let’s go” with that, the Hokage took off running </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was about to run when he saw Sasuke stay put, he was about to tell Sasuke to come back when the raven spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Write me a message. Go, the village needs you” Sasuke spoke quickly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a small growl but took off running after the Sixth Hokage. He finally managed to catch up to his former teacher and the two speeded faster than light towards the direction of the village. When the two finally appeared, they both were startled at the sight in front of them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was Sakura on the ground holding Gaara in her arms as she ran her medical jutsu on him, a concerned Sai keeping watch over them. When Sai noticed the two shinobi he ran towards them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth, Naruto. Something occurred with the Kazekage, come take a look immediately” Sai said as he guided the two males to the redhead </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara! What happened?” Naruto asked in a frantic as he dropped down to his knees to look at the Kazekage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was attacked” Gaara spoke weakly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s eyes grew wide “Attacked? By who?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I….can’t remember” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>......☺️🍿</p><p>Someone really jumped Gaara.......we fighting. </p><p> </p><p>ALSO WHO HERE BOUGHT BAD BUNNY TICKETS???? I KNOW YALL SAW THEM PRICES AND THE SITE CRASHED LMFAOAOOA, oh well😔</p><p>comment &amp; kudos ✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The shinobi around the Kazekage gasped at the shock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean you don’t remember?” Naruto asked in shock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...just can’t. I blanked out and suddenly I was awoken by both Sakura and Sai outside the village” Gaara struggled to explain</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi turned to look at the members of team 7</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s true, Sakura-chan and I were planning on taking a stroll outside the village when we discovered the body of the collapsed Kazekage just outside the gates” Sai explained</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We ran to him as soon as we saw him and as you saw, I was treating him with my medical Jutsu” Sakura added</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Could he have lost his memory from the attack?” Naruto asked the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That is a possibility” Kakashi said slowly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what was the meaning of this attack?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Right under Konoha’s nose at that. He could not show his unnerving thoughts, he was the Hokage, he had to take the necessary action </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sai, help Sakura escort Gaara to the Hospital immediately” Kakashi commanded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sai nodded, he quickly pulled out his scroll and painted a quick rendering of his famous traveling bird. Once he activated his Jutsu and the chromatic drawing sprung to life, Sakura assisted Gaara onto the bird. The redhead briefly looked at Naruto and the Hokage, the blonde was about to follow his teammates when he felt a hand on his shoulder holding him still. Naruto turned back to look at the white-haired man with confusion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto and I will catch up with you in the hospital as soon as we can. We have something to attend to in response to your attack Kazekage” Kakashi spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara nodded weakly “I understand. I apologize for the great deal of trouble and my inability to remember the event”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara you were attacked, don’t blame yourself for that! Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this, go heal up” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, Sakura, Sai, and Gaara all flew away to the Hospital. Naruto turned to the Hokage who was keeping him from joining his friends </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This attack is a serious manner Naruto, and I fear it has something to do with this chakra incident” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a startled noise “You think so?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The timeframe lines up and this issue is only progressing, growing in complexity. We have to take action” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m listening” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to contact Lady Tsunade to come and heal Gaara immediately. Luckily for us, she is expected to return to the village briefly today. I will send her a message to hurry her arrival. In the meantime, I need you to go get Ino and bring her to the Hospital. She has been slowly mastering her father’s memory retrieving jutsu and I believe she is good enough to possibly try and go into Gaara’s mind and see what’s the real issue. I also need you to inform Lee about this situation” Kakashi instructed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Understood, wait, how do you know about Lee and Gaara?” Naruto asked, slightly shocked, although it seemed like Kakashi-sensei always managed to get to the bottom of things, he would know….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee wouldn’t shut up about this new relationship when I asked him how the mission was when he first went to the sand village with you when the Kazekage requested you both” Kakashi said as he remembered how the bowl-cut ninja practically bounced off the walls when he happily recounted his relationship journey with the red-head. Yet another couple the Hokage was shocked to hear about, he swears he can’t keep up with these kids….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh” Naruto said “But I heard ya Kakashi-Sensei, let’s meet at the hospital in an hour tops. Do you think Grandma Tsunade will be here by then?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know she will. I will meet you in an hour” Kakashi agreed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two shinobi nodded as they ran towards different directions for their respected duties. Naruto assumed Ino would be at her family’s flower shop, so he ran there. Thankfully the blonde girl was in there, he burst through the doors </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Naruto-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino we need you at the hospital immediately!” Naruto said quickly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino’s made a face of confusion “What? Why? Is everything okay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll explain on the way. Quick, do you know where Lee is?” The blonde asked the smaller blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhh, I think he was just going for his daily run around the village right now” Ino answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit where could be right now?” Naruto said, slight frustration growing </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino looked past Naruto’s shoulders and gasped, she pointed towards the door and shouted “LEE WAIT!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee came to a sudden stop as he heard his name, he looked into the flowered shop and smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto-kun! Ino-chan! What a pleasure to see you both on my run, are you both enjoying this beautiful da-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee I need both you and Ino to go with me to the hospital right now! It’s a big emergency” Naruto repeated again, much more frantic </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is the emergency that interrupts my daily run?” Lee asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara-” Naruto didn’t get a chance to finish when Lee grabbed a random dozen of flowers from the shop and hoisted Ino over his shoulder, he barely saw Lee’s shadow as the bushy-browed ninja had speeded off to the direction of the medical building </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“---is in the hospital” Naruto barely finished as he took off with his own tremendous speed to catch up to the two shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three ninjas busted their way into the Hospital, the poor nursing staff barely had enough time to answer as both Naruto and Lee kept demanded the room in which the Kazekage was being treated in. When the nurse finally answered the ninjas, they took off to the designated room number. Once inside, they were met with a room full of chaos and doctors</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on?” Naruto asked over the commotion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Standing beside where Sakura was diligently using the full capacity of her medical Jutsu, Sai came out. He ran towards the shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bad news, the Kazekage fell into a sudden coma when we brought him here. Sakura and the other doctors have been working nonstop to bring him back to being awake” Sai explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee gave a loud gasp, he quickly deposited Ino into Sai’s arms, and tossed the flowers to Naruto, running to his lover’s side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara...Gaara my love please…” Lee said, tearing up immediately as he witnesses Gaara lying motionless </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee, the doctors and I need space to work here. If you could just move a little please-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee moved to touch the pale hand, holding it tightly as he let tears flow freely down his face now “Wake up Gaara...I need you. You have all of us worried” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura frowned at the scene in front of her, she stopped her justsu, nodded to the doctors to take over, and went to go comfort Lee, providing him soothing pats on the back and whispering calm words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto is devastated at the normally jovial Lee breaking down due to Gaara’s state, he balled his fist in dismay, dropping the flowers in the process. This was beginning to hit him on even more personal levels, he could barely tolerate all the negatives of this situation falling on him, but he drew the line when it involved his friends </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sai gently placed Ino down on her feet, she also frowned sadly at the couple’s interaction </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can someone tell me what happened?” Ino asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara was attacked just outside the village, Sai and Sakura found him and realized he lost his memory. We were hoping you could go into his mind and try to recover his memories and how they were lost. But when we got here…” Naruto trailed off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara had suddenly gone into a comatose state” Sai finished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see…” Ino said “You know I’m here to help, but unfortunately I can only do it with a conscious body. I haven’t gotten to that level of mind justu just yet” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dammit” Naruto gritted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright Ino, this was a sudden occurrence to all of us” Sai reassured the pale girl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee seemed to overhear the explanation and cried louder “He was so close, and I couldn’t even protect him. What kind of partner am I?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee, no one is to take the blame in this situation” Sakura shushed in comfort, the bowl cut boy only wept </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto swears it pained him to see this sight, these two obviously care and love each other so much that Lee thinks it was his fault he couldn’t do anything to prevent this from happening. It was too much, he hated seeing his friends suffer like this, but why? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Why was this happening all so suddenly? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The door suddenly burst open, everyone turned to find Lady Tsunade rushing in with Shizune right by her side. The Sixth Hokage not too far behind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re late” Naruto threw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My timing has always been my own. That’s beside the point, Lady Tsunade came just on time” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The doctors cleared out immediately as the queen of medics had wordlessly taken over, activating her own medical jutsu to perform a scan over the pale boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura fill me in” The woman instructed, her young apprentice did as she was told  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taking everything into consideration, Tsunade eyes widened as she finished her overview </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it my Lady?” Shizune asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Kazekage had his memories erased….” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room was filled with a silence so thick you could hear a pin drop, everyone was stunned at the Kunoichi’s observation </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you say this conclusion for certain?” Lee sniffled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can. I focused on the chakra flow to his brain and there was a significant disturbance there, which can explain why Gaara has lost his memories. Even more gruesome, this wasn’t any normal memory toying Jutsu. This Jutsu was designed to not only erase memories but provide an “after-shock” reaction as a result of the distributed chakra in the mind that results in a total shutdown in the body” The Fifth Hokage explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My goodness…” Kakashi said as he raised a hand to try and ease the pain of his growing headache </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who would do this to Gaara?” Lee said, tears once again spilling out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura, Shizune, and Ino are to send your medical jutsu directly to the disturbed area in his head. Once he is rendered conscious, give him time to fully awaken. During that time you are to recharge your chakra Ino and when you deem him ready, you can perform your memory retrieving jutsu” Tsuinade added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three female shinobis nodded as they got to work doing what their superior instructed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee, you are allowed to sit in the corner, let these ladies do their work to bring Gaara back” Tsunade said, Lee looked at her with big eyes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade walked over and placed a reassuring hand on top of Lee’s bowl cut “You out of anyone should know not to doubt my medical abilities” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee gave a weak smile and walked over to sit the chair in the corner, hoping that his partner would come back to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade turned to face Kakashi and Naruto “Lord Sixth, take me and Naruto to what we discussed earlier”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Follow me” Kakashi said as they walked out of the hospital room. Naruto was confused as to what the older shinobis were referring too, but followed the two nonetheless</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they walked out of the hospital and over to the desire location, Naruto realized that they were in the labs. Expect, they looked empty   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stepped inside, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> empty </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was even more confused </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I assume you are all informed of the situation now” Kakashi said as he shut the door behind him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am, especially after my unexpected popup visit” Tsunade said as she side-eyed the younger blonde “Is this where the isolated chakras are” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi nodded, Tsunade took a look at the chakras in the glass sides and placed them under the microscope </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is Naruto’s chakra all right” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We know that already…” Naruto mumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you’ve run these samples through all chakra databases” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes we have” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip “I don’t think so” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi gave a quiet surprised noise “With all to respect Lady Tsunade, I can assure you that my lab shinobi and the team have gone back and forth and doing everything they can to try and figure out these chakras and their elements” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I say this because I know for a fact that you haven’t” Tsunade said as she walked over to the computer where all the chakra databases were being scanned through </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” The Hokage asked </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I have known this little weird situation would get this grave, I would have done this earlier” Tsunade said as she pulled out a scroll </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What in the world are you talking about Grandma Tsunade?” Naruto asked, now confused to the max </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade did a hand sign and the scroll briefly lit up, she then proceeded to put it in the computer system in which the chakra database was being held in. The computer system began to run thousands of more chakra data within it as it was connected to the sample the Kunoichi placed under the microscope </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is that?” Kakashi inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is a scroll that contains the chakra of every shinobi ever to exist since the first human gained chakra” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah..” Naruto said in amazement </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Incredible, no wonder you would carry someone as valuable as that with you at all times” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade picked up a test tube “With the creation of a new being with chakra, the scroll has a powerful Jutsu that records it automatically. As the premier Kunoichi, it is my responsibility to hold on to this and protect it with my life. This is why I said if I would have known that this situation we’re in grew dire, I would have used it sooner to help you all” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright. What matters now is that we have it, and we’re doing our best” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade nodded, but her attention was caught when the computer beeped and a message appeared, she walked over to read the message, the sound of glass shattered filled the air </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade?” Kakashi asked in a slight panic, as the female blonde has dropped the test tube </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turned to both of them, eyes impossibly wide </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The other chakra….it’s….” She struggled</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi and Naruto broke into a nervous sweat</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s….Sasuke’s” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i...i'm just as shocked as you are. I really don't think y'all are ready for these chapters.....</p><p>yall my chemical romance canceled their tour....brb finna go cry in the back of hot topic </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS 💕</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Lady Tsunade stared at the result the computer spat out, with shaky hands she took back her sacred chakra scroll </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi stayed still and processed everything, but quickly remembered who was standing next to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto had to place a hand on a nearby table to steady himself, he swears he could feel his heart pounding fast within him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade, are you sure?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is impossible for this scroll to get it wrong, it has every person’s chakra recorded from the beginning of the shinobi world. If it says it Sasuke’s, then it Sasuke’s” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade and Kakashi turned to the blonde who quietly uttered those words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It has to be a mistake” Naruto said “That can’t be Sasuke’s” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade looked at Kakashi to see if he would stop the blonde from his normal spewing when it came to the Uchiha. However she noticed the look Kakashi had, it appeared as the Hokage was hesitant to believe that his other prized student had a presence with this chakra </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It also confirmed Naruto’s chakra again, however, the other elements could not be identified. I think that might  be the amplifier chakra I told you or the binding chakra Orochimaru mentioned” The older blonde said again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The certainty is undeniable for sure…” Kakashi started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But it just can’t be, this makes no sense” Naruto ended for him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room was filled with silence by the three shinobi, this was a major breakthrough in this whole situation, never in their wildest dream would they have expected to imagine Sasuke’s chakra would be involved, along with the previous shocking discovery with Naruto’s </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With this information-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto! Come quick, Gaara has finally awoken and says he feels good enough to let Ino try her jutsu” Sakura burst in through the lab, cutting the older woman off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re on our way, Naruto go with Sakura and ensure that Gaara is truly fine. Lady Tsunade and I have to clean up here” Kakashi said in a pointed manner</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With so much going on, Naruto could barely process everything and only gave a curt nod as he ran off with the pink-haired girl. When the two younger shinobi were out of range, Kakashi turned around and gave a serious look </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade this more shocking than Naruto’s, are you positive that no mistake can be made with that scroll?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am sure Kakashi, the scroll simply cannot be wrong, it’s sacred Jutsu prevents against all error when it comes to its chakra contents” Tsunade reaffirmed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi only closed his eyes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth, what are we going to do now? Now that Sasuke’s involved, the risk has gone up tremendously” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am aware, believe me…” Kakashi said “For now I have to make sure Sasuke is away, we cannot let this get out. Any more information about Sasuke that makes him look bad would be harmful to his already tarnished record. I have to take action immediately, Naruto’s chakra being seen was already bad enough. But now it’s the both of them, given past events, I’m almost scared to think of what this whole situation means now” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade was taken aback by the Hokage’s words “But Kakashi...what about Naruto?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have any more time to take personal matters into consideration. I will take all necessary action to finally take control of this situation and put it to an end, an element like Sasuke being involved really throws this situation even more to the dangerous realm” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade could only nod, she didn’t like the feeling she got from this at all </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let us hurry and tend to Gaara, he is the most important thing right now and I have no doubts that once we find out what happened to him will shed even more light on this developing issue” Kakashi said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are correct, let’s go immediately” and with that, the two older shinobi ran quickly to the hospital </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they arrived in the room, they were met with the sight of everyone gathered around Gaara’s bed. Lee was promptly holding his hand, Sakura held a warm rag to his head, Naruto and Sai stood by to watch the now awaken Kage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade walked next to Shizune, who was frantically taking notes on Gaara’s vitals</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m assuming the direct, strong, and constant flow of medical Jutsu brought him back to a conscious state?” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune gave a tired smile “Once again, you are never wrong” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade walked over to the Kazekage, she gave a visual scan, he appeared to be in a stable condition</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is he stable?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes ma’am” Shizune and Sakura answered the prime Kunoichi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She placed a gentle hand on top of the red hair “How are you feeling Gaara?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I feel fine. I thank you and your supporting kunoichi for working tirelessly in order to bring me back. I sincerely apologize for causing so much mayhem and emotional distress over my weakened state” Gaara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara don’t be ridiculous, we would do anything for you here. This was not your fault, you were attacked here, if anything, let us apologize for not protecting you” Tsunade frowned as she patted the red hair again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“AS IF MY BILLIONS OF APOLOGIES WERE NOT SUFFICIENT, I WILL APOLOGIZE TO YOU A TRILLION MORE TIMES NOW” Lee cried again as he gave Gaara’s poor hand another death squeeze</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee please let go of Gaara’s hand” Tsunade winced at the incredibly loud cry the bowl cut boy gave as he reluctantly let go of the pale hand “If you are completely sure you are feeling better Gaara, I will allow Ino to try and enter your mind” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino walked slowly to the older blonde woman’s side “Absolutely no pressure Gaara, we’re here for you whenever you’re ready to proceed with this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I assure you all I am okay. I want this to happen, this is the least I can do for all the trouble that I have caused” Gaara said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, just relax your mind for me” Ino said as she walked closer to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara did just that, closing his eyes in the process. Ino weaved her hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Memory Retrieval Jutsu</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino placed a hand on Gaara’s head, Gaara’s eyes snapped wide open. He memories rushing back into his mind again. Ino released her hand quickly, focusing on the pale boy’s state to make sure he wasn’t overwhelmed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara? Are you with us?” Ino asked </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gaara place a hand on Ino’s arm, he looked at her, eyes still big </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I saw the memories...I’m starting to remember” Gaara said slowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino smiled with glee, she did it...she mastered the Jutsu! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Take your time Gaara. It can be a lot for your mind to go through” Ino said as she held on to Gaara’s hand as it held her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...was on my way from the Hidden Sand. I was coming because...because the report was finally done, the one I had promised you Naruto. I chose to come unannounced and hidden because this was something very confidential that I had to deliver myself personally, but then I was caught in a genjutsu and attacked” Gaara finally explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room gasped at the sudden story the Kazekage told, this was completely unseen</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara…” Lee said in shock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Report? Well where is it?” Tsunade asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t remember seeing a report on your person when we found you” Sai said “Do you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There wasn’t” Sakura said as she shook her head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The attackers must have taken it away from you” Tsunade said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who were your attackers?” Lee now inquired </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They were….they...I don’t know. I-I can’t...remember” Gaara looked back up at Ino with scared eyes “Ino I can’t remember. I can’t even remember what was on the report” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino furrowed her eyebrow, she redid her hand signs and place a hand on Gara’s head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Memory Retrieval Jutsu!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara remained panicked “Ino I can’t remember who my attacker was or the report”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Ino was now panicking herself “My goodness this means…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Sakura asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There is a sealed memory jutsu in your mind that’s preventing you from remembering a specific memory” Ino said with worry </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This means that someone with the ability to perceive someone’s inner mind workings placed a seal on that memory along with the memory reading one” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s right. That would mean we would have to put Gaara in a special ritual room with other mind-specialty shinobi. That one person who could actually successfully go into someone’s mind and redo the seals was my father but…” Ino paused, Sai placed a hand on Ino’s shoulder. Her fathers passing was still a fresh scar for her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino took a deep breath before continuing “He was in the middle of teaching me it, so a jutsu like that is going to take me just a little longer to completely master and do it successfully. I’m almost there though, I promise I will work nonstop in order to help you Gaara” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi took in every little bit of this quickly developing situation. This was chaos, madness, they were so blinded by all the unanswered questions and fast-moving events that were all tied back to this chakra issue. He was the Hokage, he had the sworn duty of protecting this village and was going to do everything within his power to do just that. The time for acting promptly and effectively was now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone pay close attention to what I will tell you as we are running on a limited time frame to do all this and figure out the reason for Gaara’s assault” Kakashi started “Gaara is to remain resting here in Konoha until the time being, I will alert the Hidden Sand Village, I am sure you have an emergency protocol to take your place in events like these. Lee and Naruto, you two are to stay here and keep a 24/7 watch on Gaara and his room, no one is allowed in without proper permission from either myself, Shizune, or Lady Tsunade. Sakura, help out here as long as needed then you go back to your </span>
  <em>
    <span>original duties</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Sai, round up the Police Force and place guards outside the hospital and more shinobi to keep a closer eye on the gates. Do I make myself clear?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All the Shinobi inside the room nodded their hands at the white-haired man, as always, Kakashi thought quick on his feet and made a plan of attack that addressed every issue effectively </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perfect. I will be unavailable until further notice to sort more things on my end. I expect you all to carry out your tasks adequately” and with that, the Hokage made his way both out of the room and out of the Hospital. There was one extremely urgent thing he had to attend to immediately</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi ran out of the village, making sure no one saw him. He ran quickly into the forest at unwavering speed and made his way into the location he had firmly in his mind</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time he reached Sasuke’s hideout, the sun had long gone left the sky. He entered the hideout and looked around, he eventually found the raven in his assumed supply room </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen to me very carefully, I need you to go somewhere far away for a while” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in pure confusion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke we found your chakra with the chakra sample” Kakashi spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s mismatched eyes grew the size of saucers, he swears he felt lightheaded at his former sensei’s words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My...chakra?” Sasuke said in disbelief </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade used a special chakra jutsu that is able to discern anyone’s chakra and your’s was picked up alongside Naruto’s” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How...” Sasuke looked strictly at the Hokage “How is this possible? Kakashi I am fully aware and acknowledge the fact that I have done terrible things, but I promise you I have absolutely nothing to do with this. I know for a fact I have never ever heard about this chakra until Naruto told me, let alone feel it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not accusing you here of anything Sasuke, quite honestly due to my own bias I still have a hard time that either yours and Naruto’s chakra is really involved, but that evidence is all there…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does anyone know?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Only Lady Tsunade, Naruto, and I” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto….</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no, the blonde was undoubtedly worried about him now….</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck, this is what he didn’t want</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know this is a lot to process right now, but we have no time to stand here and do nothing. We’re working nonstop on trying to figure this out, things are getting ugly. Even though no one knows it’s your chakra, someone was able to get it and places even more danger regarding you Sasuke, especially paired with Naruto” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke swallowed hard and gave a curt nod “I understand. I will do just that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for understanding” Kakashi said “But where will you go?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’ve been practicing traveling between dimensions with my Rinnegan. I might use that and go away completely” Sasuke told him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds like a good idea. If you need me, you reach out here to me and we’ll take proper action. This is the best we can do to protect you and the village, we have to do whatever it takes” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I agree. I’ll be away for awhile” Sasuke repeated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke suddenly felt himself being pulled into a rare embrace by the Hokage, he froze. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Why is this happening to you both, why right now…”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kakashi sighed  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Bruh whoever is behind this is doing the most….</p><p>And yuh…Kakashi told Sasuke to dip, he's a runner hes a track starrrrrrr </p><p>So I saw this song on insta called iTachi by Detox the Kid and its really slaps bruh, flow and bars go hard asf, 11/10 would recommend </p><p>Also if anyone uses fake lashes do yall have some good eyelash recommendations, I’m down for any style frfr I need some more 🥰</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS 💅🏻</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Anything Sai?” Naruto called out from the window </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing Naruto, I’ll report back to you in another hour or so” Sai yelled from outside</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a short salute as he shut the window closed and return to Gaara’s bed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sai said everything is all clear, we should hear from him in a little while” Naruto told Lee</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee walked from where he stood by the door, he too now walked closer to Gaara’s bed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you feeling dear?” Lee asked Gaara </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee you asked me the same question five minutes ago, I’m still doing fine” Gaara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Forgive me, I am just so worried about your well being” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara gave a small smile as he patted the free space next to him, signaling for his boyfriend to sit next to him. Lee gave a happy gasp </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great idea Gaara, with our close proximity, I shall transfer to you my own power of youth through physical contact” with that, the bowl cut boy jumped on the hospital bed and hugged Lee tightly, pressing their cheeks together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee stop being ridicu-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you feel the power of youth flowing within you? I am giving it my all for you my love!” Lee said as he cut off the pale man </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara looked at the determined and concerned look on Lee’s face, he felt both a slight pang in his heart of how much pain he caused his emotional boyfriend from his attack, but also his heart flutter at the close connection with Lee, it was reassurance that their relationship was real, he wasn’t alone anymore, no one hated him, he had someone who cared about him and made him happy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I feel it” Gaara smiled shyly again, Lee gave out an excited cry </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guy-sensei was right! You really can transfer the power of youth and determination to cure any soul!” Lee cried as he continued to hold his man close </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a chuckle at the sight of his cuddly friends. Gaara noticed and blushed slightly, remembering that they were in the presence of someone else. He knew he and Lee weren’t in public and their close friends knew of their relationship, this whole thing was still very new to the Kazekage, he wasn’t used to displaying his affection this freely, even if it was in front of their very close friend Naruto </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I have to apologize to you once again for causing such distress amongst you all” Gaara spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pulled out a nearby chair and sat next to the bed “Don’t worry about it, I already told ya this wasn’t your fault. You don’t need to blame yourself for something that happened to you on our turf” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I cannot help but feel guilty for causing chaos” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No matter the situation, we’d always help you out ya know” Naruto told the pale man </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then allow me to give you my gratitude. To you and Lee, to everyone” Gaara said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto held his hand out, Gaara only stared at it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are friends for?” Naruto smiled cheekily, remembering when Gaara shook his hand during the beginning of the war</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara shook his hand back, and nodded “Friends” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee began to tear up again “Such a wonderful display of friendship, it fills me with glee to see my comrade and boyfriend in such united ways with our villages as well” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee please, you’re squeezing me a little too tight” Gaara said as he tried to get Lee to ease up his tight </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I cannot help it Gaara! I let you out of my sight and you were attacked, I cannot let that happen again or I will lose it!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee please don’t stress over me anymore. I’m here with you” Gaara reassured </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee smiled through his tears “Oh Gara, I love you so much!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you Lee” Gara smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The couple hugged each other a little longer, relief washing over them that they were safe and together in each other’s arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, love? You guys are really crazy for each other huh?” Naruto said, kinda shocked that the two made a profound and ultimate statement of mutual feelings sound so simple </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once again, Gaara blushed a little as he was open with his relationship again in the presence of another person</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose we are” Gaara said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am not ashamed to showcase my devout feelings for Gaara” Lee said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Love? Now I’m not doubting your feelings or anything, but that’s a pretty strong word ya know” Naruto stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know it is, but I am sure” Gaara said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee sniffed and tapped gently against the tattoo on Gaara’s head “I as well am certain of my strong emotions towards Gaara”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw you guys are adorable” Naruto chuckled again “How’d you guys know, you said it like it was something you say every day” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly a finger was in the blonde’s face “It is not an easy task Naruto-kun, declaring one’s love it something serious and a requires deep thinking in assuring that you are accurate with your feelings” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That serious huh?” Naruto said as he pushed Lee’s fingers away from his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You need to be completely certain that you’ve reached that level of connection with someone to say you love someone. Love is such a powerful thing, it is the basis of everything” Gaara said, touching his own tattoo</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto cocked his head to the side at what his friends just said “If it’s so important, how’d you guys realize you loved each other?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you asking us how we became aware?” Lee asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara blushed again “We don’t have to get into the detai-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“VERY WELL, I SHALL RECOUNT THE STORY OF HOW I REALIZED MY LOVE FOR GAARA” Lee cried out excitedly, Gaara only let out a flustered sigh out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen closely Naruto-kun, as this is a story very special to me. I suppose it begins when we were simply genin. It was the chunin exams and I was amidst the intense battle Gaara and I had. It was in the moment where I had broken through Gaara’s sand and landed a hit, Gaara had this face and reaction that I have craved for my entire life. Being without chakra and always comparing myself to Neji, I wanted someone to see me as the prime shinobi, one who was elite in skill without needing chakra or any special Jutsu. When I had had broke through his defenses, Gaara recognized me and saw me as an equal, someone worth fighting, despite being without the proper image of a shinobi, that my taijutsu was enough for him to realize I was on his par. He recognized and acknowledged me. I craved that for so long, and when Gaara gave it to me, I never forgot it. Then as we got older, Gaara changed and we crossed paths again, the connection we made at those chunin exams never faded away. Our friendship grew, but then we both found ourselves harboring feelings that went beyond comradery, we became a couple, and the connection we shared only continued to grow. All the time we spent together, the memories formed, the bond we shared all fueled this strong care and devotion I had for Gaara, how he made me happy, how I was willing to throw my own life away for Gara, worrying about him, he was my joy and I knew this was love, Gaara is my love”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto swallowed thickly, this was a touching story, it really was, but he couldn’t help that Lee’s tale sounded a little too familiar….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee..” Gaara smiled softly as he looked at the beaming bowl-cut boy “My heart is full to hear you say those words” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My words were powered by love and power of youth!” Lee said with happiness</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara chuckled “I do not know if I can explain it as profoundly or beautifully as Lee here, but I assure you my words arise from the same emotion. I would agree that it has its roots at the chunin exams, I could tell that during our extreme battle, Lee did not see me as the cold-blooded killer that originated from the sand, not the dangerous jinchuriki that is always associated with us, he saw me as simply an opponent, a worthy one at that. When he broke through my sand, I realized that Lee went to such lengths to see me through to the end of our battle, never looking at me in fear. Then Naruto, you changed me and showed me the importance of love and care, I will forever thank you for that. As Lee stated we went on with our lives, when I saw Lee again, I was thrilled to see he saw me as a comrade and wanted to continue that connection. Then I found myself feeling...different with Lee. He made me feel good, okay, safe. Like I would go to the ends of the earth for him, he is my world. I myself struggled with coming to terms with this, I’ve never been one to be emotional. But Lee actually said he loved me first, and that shocked me. That he saw me worthy of someone receiving his love, and I realized that’s what I felt for Lee….love. I love him” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee burst into tears, holding Gaara incredibly close</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“GAARA YOUR WORDS MEAN THE WORLD TO ME” Lee paused cry more “OF COURSE I LOVE YOU”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m glad” Gaara said as he wiped the happy tears off his boyfriend, allowing them to be together in each other arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a smile at the scene, these two have been through so much and were able to find happiness within each other. But his heart started beating a little too fast, their story REALLY sounded familiar </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It sounded like what he went through with Sasuke….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just like it…..</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>………….</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>…………………….wait</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stood abruptly from his chair, knocking it over in the process. This immediately caught the attention of the couple</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright Naruto?” Gaara asked in concern</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto heart was beating so fast he couldn’t breathe </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…..bathroom” Naruto didn’t even allow for the boys to say anything before he rushed out of the room, looking for the nearest bathroom</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once he found it down the hall and checked that they were empty, he locked and slid down the door, sitting on the hard ground trying to control his breathing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara’s and Lee’s story, their romance journey to realizing their love was exactly what Naruto experienced with Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Back when they were children, how Naruto desperately sought out acknowledgment from Sasuke, to be seen as his equal in his eyes. Even on their own intense battle as Genin, how they both realized they were each other’s greatest friend, they made each other stronger, and that was their eternal torment. It was Sasuke’s reason for driving a wedge between them, but Naruto didn’t let that stop him. Just like Gaara and Lee said, he cared about Sasuke, he quite literally traveled to the ends of the earth for Sasuke, he went through so much for Sasuke, Sasuke was on his kind and his goal for so long, Sasuke made him happy, when he was around Sasuke he was happy. Sasuke acknowledged him and saw him as better, Sasuke has shown in his own ways that he cares about Naruto……</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Did Naruto……</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Did he…….feel that way……..with Sasuke </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto put a shaky hand to his heart, trying to calm down his rapidly pounding heart </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto, relax your mind, you might actually give yourself a heart attack</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He heard Kurama say in their internal domain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ignored the fox, he knew he meant well but Naruto's mind was on the brink of collapsing with this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All the arguments and fights, based on all the sentiments they harbored from their past. Every single of one of their recent fights and arguments, ending in angry kisses and furious sex. The unexplained touches and careless intimate acts... was that all rooted in something else? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was Naruto’s rival, greatest challenge, his comrade, his best friend </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Gaara and Lee went through the same thing as them, and they called it love</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Is that why Naruto’s mind was constantly being consumed by the Uchiha, why he couldn’t rest easy unless he knew Sasuke was okay, why he felt the urge to all always see Sasuke. They were always destined to be by each other sides after all...</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Even with the bitter and painful memories of the past?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Including the tension they stilled tiptoed through every time they were in contact? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It couldn’t be, Sakura was the one who felt this way towards Sasuke, she confessed it to Naruto with such genuineness. Sakura held on to her feelings firmly throughout the years and hardship, always maintaining how strong she felt for Sasuke. Naruto also saw it as kids, how much Sakura cared and devoted herself to Sasuke. Sakura was always so sure she felt this special way for Sasuke, she reserved it only for Sasuke, never unwavering, she had said it clearly and knew her feelings, feeling confident enough to let Naruto know </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Naruto couldn’t feel the same way….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Care, Devotion, Acknowledgement, Happiness</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That is what they called love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto loves Sasuke </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>all im going to say to you my precious babes, is I apologize in advance😚</p><p>I LOVE GAARA AND LEE SM </p><p>so we'll see what happens 🙂</p><p>also anyone got some good Kisame &amp; Itachi fics? Or Madara &amp; Hashirama ones? I've been tryna read some more of those two😌</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Quit moping around, you’re starting to drag me down” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What am I supposed to do Kurama? There’s so much going on and now this” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Do you….want to talk about it?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Do you think it’ll help?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I think so? Look, I’m not good at these types of things, but I’m sure talking through all this and actually process everything that’s happening should do you some good” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Maybe you’re right…” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Make it quick, you’re really starting to make this place a bummer” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto opened his eyes, exiting his domain with his favorite fox, he let out a long sigh in the darkness of his room. He had spent the entire day in bed, locked up in his room, but contrary to his tailed beast, he wasn’t moping around. He was just feeling the weight of all of the chaos rapidly happening around him. The chakra situation was getting extremely out of hand, Gaara was attacked in Konoha, Sasuke’s chakra was found in the sample, and now Sasuke….</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto groaned loudly as he dug his head deeper in his pillow, it was just too much going around him and he didn’t know what to do. It was really starting to take a toll on him, so much so that even Karuma was beginning to be affected by it. What was he going to do, in all these problems he felt stuck, he felt hopeless, he didn’t have the power to do anything and Naruto hated that, he never liked to be one to just stand there and watch things happening without trying to do anything </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly a loud knock on his door broke him out of his thoughts, who could be visiting him? Naruto reluctantly got up from his bed, slowly making his way to where the noise was coming from. Naruto opened the door, shoulders dropping when he saw who it was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi Naruto, you look awful” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth! Have some sensitivity” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear Iruka, you’re too soft on Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s a difference between being soft and straight-up mean!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a slight chuckle at his old bickering sensei’s. Iruka noticed and gave the blonde a kind smile </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto we came to visit. Gaara and Lee said you ran suddenly from their hospital room. Sai and I even saw you practically fly past us, you rushed out the hospital itself so fast it was weird” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah...sorry about that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No need to apologize. We just wanted to check-in, you know your mother here worries about you” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear Lord Sixth sometimes you really get on my nerves…” Iruka took a deep breath, fully ignoring the white-haired man “Can we come in? We haven’t seen you for a few days” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stepped aside to let the two older men into his home, the older shinobi walked in and weren’t completely surprised at the mess that usually was in Naruto’s home. Although they were a little thrown off that the apartment was in complete darkness with all the curtains drawn shut, the bed looking like someone was just slumped on it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi flipped on the light switch “I never took you for one who liked being in the dark Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto wordlessly went over to fall on his bed again, pulling his covers over his entire body </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka gave Kakashi a concerned look, Kakashi only shrugged and went to pull out the single kitchen chair to sit near the blonde. Iruka opted to sit directly on the bed, Naruto felt the bed dip due to the new weight. He closed his eyes, he had a feeling he knew what was about to come next </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, are you alright?” Iruka asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto chose to remain silent </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Irula placed a gentle hand on the boy’s back, giving him comforting pats “It’s okay if you’re not, especially right now. Kakashi finally told me what’s going on” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes opened, Kakashi had told him the truth? Naruto slowly peeked out from under his blanket </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He told me about the monsters, the chakra discoveries, Gaara’s attack, and Sasuke. No one is expecting you to put on a brave face and deal with this on your own” Iruka said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t want to tell him, he threatened me with a kunai knife as to why you were acting weird. Me? With a Kunai Knife? He’s officially crazy I know” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re on the thinnest of ice Lord Sixth” Iruka snapped “The point is Naruto, I understand how you might feel overwhelmed with all this. That’s normal and it’s also normal for you to check out for a bit and grapple or process all these things” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Iruka-sensei, we don’t have time for me to just lay around and do nothing. This is something big and we have to take action” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you say there is no time and this is something big, why have you’ve been cooped up in here then? Surely if you really felt that way, you would be out and about like normal and not locked up in your apartment” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do mean it” Naruto said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I don’t doubt you. However, there is something going on with you that’s even pulling you away from a mission. So it must be something serious that’s bothering you” The Hokage said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Damn Kakashi-sensei, and Iruka too, why did they always have to be so observant and constantly worry about him.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto again chose to remain silence </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So I was correct” Kakashi said as he looked to Iruka </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto talk to us, you can tell us anything and trust us. We’re here for you always” Iruka tried to coax </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s nothing, I’m just tired” Naruto mumbled under his sheets, having once again pulled them over his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi leaned over to snatch the blanket of the blonde, looking straight into those blue eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That excuse won’t cut it anymore Naruto, tell us what’s really going on” Kakashi said, though not agreeing with the more harsh approach, Iruka nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What could Naruto do or say? He was literally backed into a corner and surrounded. Should he be honest and talk? Even Kurama said he should let his thoughts out, maybe he should heed the device, he felt absolutely awful and his mind was overthinking to the max </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned his back and faced the wall, he didn’t want to look at his old teacher’s reaction when they saw him in such a weak and vulnerable state, he was stronger than that dammit! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...just have a lot on my mind right now” Naruto said slowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re listening” Iruka said, returning the gentle pats on the boy’s backs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“These monster’s and chakra have me and Sasuke in them” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That may be true, but we still don’t know the full story” Kakashi told the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone keeps saying that but how can we be sure. Because we don’t know anything means that there’s still the possibility of me and Sasuke being responsible for this. Maybe we have come across it or are connected to it and we just don’t realize it. Then Tsunade said during the war when I shared my chakra, someone there could have snatched it, a good shinobi! We could be the reason why all this is happening and here I am in the dark!” Naruto said with a frustrated sigh  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto perhaps I am biased, but I and the rest of the people who have seen this situation know that you cannot be responsible for this. Or a shinobi from the allied forces. Or Sasuke, I know Sasuke just as well as you do Naruto, this is not something he would do. Neither would you, even if you believe you didn’t realize anything. There is just no logical conclusion as to why you two would willingly or deliberately place your chakra into these troublesome things” Kakashi explained</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth is correct, Naruto there is no plausible explanation as to how all this would come from something you two did. It’s because of this lack of information that makes the unknown more reasonable than something outlandish as this being your fault” Iruka added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t help but wonder those things, chakra is unmistakable. You heard Grandma Tsunade, for someone or something to get our chakra is impossible, but yet it’s there….” Naruto trailed off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We will find answers based on truth Naruto, we aren’t just doing nothing, everyone is putting in the effort to put an end to this” Kakashi told the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But what about Gaara? He was on his way to deliver his report to us, he left his Kazekage duties and was attacked right outside our gates. I don’t like how this looks for us. We couldn’t even do anything and he attacked to the point where his memory was literally erased!” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I share the same sentiment, having someone who is practically our own attacked so close to us is shocking. I am frustrated that the Kazekage had to go through such a vicious attack just because he was delivering something so valuable to us. But we cannot dwell on what has already happened, all we can do now is take active steps to fix all the wrongs that are presented” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka nodded at the Hokage’s words “We aren’t just saying these things to spare your feelings Naruto. We aren’t even saying this because we don’t want to see you or Sasuke behind this, despite the personal feelings we have. We all deeply regret and are angered by what happened to Gaara but we have to handle the situation as best as we can right now. If if we need you for anything or require your help, you already know we’ll let you know” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto carefully heard his sensei’s words, they spoke them with such seriousness and genuineness that Naruto couldn’t help but believe their words. They really believed that Naruto and Sasuke weren’t involved, and don’t hold him accountable for the chaos that has sprung due to his discovery of this strange chakra. He would believe them for now, for his sake, he couldn’t afford to be stuck up on these things. There were still so many things they had to do to finally get to the bottom of this. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah ok, thank you guys. I appreciate the concern” Naruto said, face still facing the wall </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that all that’s troubling you Naruto?” Iruka asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi narrowed his eyes, he didn’t need a Sharingan to see that Naruto was lying, in fact, he sure the things that are bothering the blonde has to do with a certain Sharingan user. But to his knowledge, Naruto did not know that he had advised Sasuke to stay low-key for a while. This can be because Naruto just hasn’t had the time to worry about Sasuke like he normally does give everything that’s happened, he’ll keep this to himself for a while  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No it’s not. Something is still on your mind” Kakashi spoke out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto began to break out in a cold sweat and closed his eyes tightly, his rapid beating hard returning. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell the older men about this lingering issue, that the strange sentiment he has towards Sasuke is love. He still had a hard time grappling with this idea, it was so new and it caught him so off guard, everything hitting him all at once like a truck</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto calm down, you got very tense all of a sudden” Iruka said as he hurried his gentle pats more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Should he say something? Will it help? Was it really love? Was it worth him almost having a heart attack? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“YES NARUTO! Just say something, you trust these two and what’s the worst that will happen? Your dignity is bruised? Please you’ve been through enough for that to be a possibility anymore</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Karuma spoke from his inner domain, Naruto reluctantly decided to follow his advice</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What….what’s…..” Naruto paused to swallow hard “How do you know if you love someone?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka and Kakashi snapped their heads to look at each other, unsure if they heard the blonde correctly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Love?” Iruka struggled to repeat </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-yeah like... how do you know? If it’s real or not?” Naruto mumbled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh well...you kind of just know. Rather...it’s a feeling. </span>
  <span>You can't stop staring at them. You abandon your usual activities. They make you feel good and joyful. They can do no wrong. You feel unusually optimistic. You always think about them. You want them to be happy” Iruka paused “I’m not too sure if I explained that well...it’s just hard and different for everyone. But you just know” Iruka said, he looked at Kakashi for a while, Kakashi held the gaze </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The person you love is and means the world for you. They care, devote themselves, acknowledge, and provide you happiness” Iruka added</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto kept this in mind, the fast beating and spinning mind returning to him. This wasn’t good, he started breathing heavily again. Iruka once again picked up the strange behavior of the blonde and returned to his comforting pats on the back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do you ask Naruto?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto finally turned over, facing the two older shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because I love Sasuke” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>THE DADS KNOW YALL THE DADS KNOWWWWWW</p><p>i get so excited thinking about how yall are gonna react to these chapters🥴</p><p>also lemme vent to yall real quick cuz I might actually jump off a cliff. Lemme tell yall I'm pretty cocky, I be spitting game and pulling who I want I'm not cappin. But since I've been in quarantine for so long I think I've lost my game bruh😭😭 I went to chipotle and the cashier was this cute ass guy and I was like "yeahhhh lemme holla at him real quick". I get to him and I stutter and stumble over my words so much, my hand was shaking as I handed him my card to pay 😀 IM NEVER GOING BACK TO THAT CHIPOTLE EVER AGAIN I WAS SO EMBARRASSED LIKE OH MY GOD YALLLL😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 </p><p>anyways comment &amp; kudos ✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Iruka froze his movements, Kakashi’s eyes were impossibly wide, Naruto’s heart stopped for a second as he finally spoke those words out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka retracted his hand as if it’s been burnt, he faced the white-haired man, Kakashi only kept his gaze locked at the blonde who was now looking at the empty space in front of him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto…you...what….what did you just say?” Iruka struggled to get out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s moved his eyes to look at his sensei “I said I love Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka made a surprised noise, the statement alone was more shocking than anything he’s recently heard </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi continued to keep his intense stare at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka was quiet for a moment longer before clearing his throat and letting a very uneasy laugh out “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ha</span>
  </em>
  <span>, yeah I understand. It’s like your love for the village! And for your other comrades! Makes sense yes!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not the same as that Iruka-sensei” Naruto said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…” Iruka furrowed his brows “Then what do you mean? Love? No Naruto, I think you’re confusing your emotions-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>So it was love.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Kakashi finally spoke, causing both Naruto and Iruka to shift their attention to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth what are you talking about?” Iruka asked in confusion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s why you were so interested in Sasuke for your entire life?” Kakashi continued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka only blinked at the man “You can’t be serious? Do you think Naruto really loves Sasuke? What would he know, he’s so young and went through so much pain” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Iruka we’ve watched these boys grow up, are you going to argue with me that these two didn’t harbor any feelings?” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was rivalry! And look where that rivalry led to!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Behind every rivalry lies a deeper connection. Especially with these two, even as kids they might have been fighting, but you never saw them apart for too long. You dare to argue that this wasn’t all the cultivation of deeper emotions for each other?” Kakashi threw at Iruka </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka opened his mouth but promptly closed it, he had nothing to argue against the Hoakge’s rightful words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s eyes met the blue ones that were staring at him “Naruto, is that what all this was? Love was behind this entire mess. You cared about Sasuke as kids, I remember when Sasuke threw his life away to save you and you were so enraged that you transformed into the Nine-Tails for the first time for him. Then you aimed at fighting him, seeing that no one was worth fighting, and you sought out Sasuke’s approval and recognition only. Then when you finally proved to be just a little stronger, you still wanted Sasuke to be by your side and fight you as an equal. However, Sasuke was blinded by hate and your relationship was tested for the first time and he left you. You were devastated, you even chased after him with all you got and you guys almost killed each other. Yet you couldn’t let him go and never called him a menace like everyone in the village did. This wasn’t about some silly promise you made Sakura or for honoring the village, Sasuke was someone special to you. Someone worth saving and protecting. He’s what was pushing you to train faster and harder so that you could beat him. But you knew you were about equal in strength, and you knew if you really wanted to, you could take him down, but that would result in the death of both of you. Yet you still went after him, and you brought him back. I don’t think I saw you happier in the brief moment when Sasuke denounced his old way and recognized you as a superior and left his dark path behind. But you’re still chasing him Naruto, still fighting for his behalf, so much so that your relationship with Sasuke shifted into something else. And you realized it….you did all that. What pushed you to go through all that was love, your love for Sasuke was that strong for all these years” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was left speechless, how did Kakashi know that? How was he able to quickly go through the exact thought process and inner torment that he’s been battling that past few days. So it wasn’t just him being crazy and thinking he was completely wrong about his feelings. Kakashi saw it too, and Iruka knew that something like this had developed with them being kids. Was he in that deep? That this destiny of them being partners tied in with something else? Why couldn’t he see it….after all these years? He made his goal of bringing Sasuke back and trained so hard because he loved Sasuke that much….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His feelings were real and valid </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love Sasuke…” Naruto whispered to himself </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“These feeli-...this love...for Sasuke. Are you sure this is what it really is?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve heard so many people say what love is, what their story with love is, how they grapple with it, how they realized it. You all may say it’s different, but it’s not. You care for that person and desire them in ways only you can feel” Naruto said “And all those things, what Kakashi-sensei said, is true. I love Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka and Kakashi’s eyes met each other, they didn’t need words to say it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>They knew</span>
  </em>
  <span>...the blonde was being serious and genuine. He did have such strong feelings towards his destined rival and partner</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi let out a deep sigh “Oh Naruto….” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka looked at the blonde from the corner of his eyes, Naruto showed no motion of any lying or hesitation. He really did love Sasuke, Iruka had some thoughts about it when they were kids, given that and all that has happened, he sees it as clear as day</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka gently tugged on Naruto’s pajama shirt, Naruto’s attention was captured and he looked over at his old sensei. Iruka held his arms out, Naruto made a small sound at the gesture, after a while, he slowly made his way to wrap his own arms around the brown-haired man, relaxing instantly in Iruka’s arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka held him close “My word Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room was filled with silence, the two older shinobi sitting with the fact that Naruto did in fact love the Uchiha. Naruto still coming to terms that what he was feeling was in fact the strongest sentiment you could have for someone, on an emotional level. He removed himself from Iruka’s hug and laid back down against his bed, staring at the ceiling  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What should I do now?” Naruto asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you want to do?” Iruka asked back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just want to stop feeling like I’m about to have a heart attack every time I think about it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you feeling like that?” now Kakashi asked the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean this is new, I feel so dumb that this is something I carried for so long and I just realized it now. I mean this is what caused me to fight for him for so long, and it’s just....do you think he could feel the same way?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi leaned back in his chair “Now that’s the million-dollar question isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you think?” Iruka asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke is just…...Sasuke” Naruto said a little downhearted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now that he knew for certain of his feelings were the real deal, now he was wrestling with the idea that Sasuke could possibly feel this way. Although given the circumstance and past, Sasuke always seemed to view Naruto as nothing but a nuisance, even now Sasuke was trying so hard to push Naruto away again. He swore he saw some progress with Sasuke,  they were having sex and touching each other, and that alone made his heart skip a beat, but Sasuke never said anything or seemed to express anything about it, he may have given up a dark path but sometimes Naruto saw no hope with Sasuke, that didn’t stop him from bringing him back. But now Naruto was facing his newly discovered feeling for him, what was he supposed to do now knowing he was this attached to Sasuke? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka saw that the blonde was having an inner battle with his thoughts and emotions, he hated seeing Naruto looking like this, feeling overwhelmed, like he had no choice but to carry the weight of the world on his own shoulders   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto it’s only natural to worry if the person you love feels the same way” Iruka tried to comfort </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I don’t like feeling like this, it sucks. There’s has to be something I can do!” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure given the right opportunity you could always be straightforward and just ask him yourself. He’ll have no choice but to answer you then or you could-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto spring up from his bed, starling Iruka half to death at the sudden movements </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you really think he’ll feel like he’d have to answer?” Naruto asked, eyes big </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka began to sweat “I-I mean there is always the possibility. But we don’t know with Sasu-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jumped out of his bed and changed quickly into his regular clothes, caring less that his senseis were right there. Hope had bubbled inside him, Sasuke could feel the same way. And since it would only be the two of them right there, so Sasuke would have no choice to answer him. He put on his shoes and ran straight out of his apartment, practically bouncing off the roofs of the village as he headed to the raven’s hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two older shinobi were only left behind the apartment, barely seeing a yellow flash fly right past through him, Kakashi swears Naruto is unmistakeably Minato’s son </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka blinked rapidly trying to register what just happened, once he saw that the blonde had left he gasped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t think he really..” Iruka started</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose “Yes, of course he would be determined about this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does he know that you told Sasuke to leave for a while?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No he does not” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth….” Iruka said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I understand that he’s in a sensitive state right, but it was for his own good. Even if he’s just now realizing his feelings the situation is…..tense” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’ll be hurt” Iruka sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He needs to understand the reality of the situation. And I just don’t know what to do…” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two older men sat in silence, they hoped Naruto would finally understand Sasuke’s case, this was just happening so fast, </span>
  <em>
    <span>who would have ever seen the day</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka furrowed his brows and looked at Kakashi “What did you mean when you said their relationship has recently shifted?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They are having sex” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka was lucky that he was on Naruto’s bed when he fainted at the Hokage’s words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto didn’t like this, he was close to the hideout but he didn’t feel Sasuke’s chakra. He really was hoping that Sasuke wasn’t off on another useless atonement trip, not right now. When the blonde finally arrived at the hideout, he waited for a bit, trying to focus on sensing out the specific chakra </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wasn’t here </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was about to run inside but he remembered the last time he did that, and quite honestly, he was not in the mood to go through all that again. Naruto’s shoulders dropped gently, it would be just his luck that when he made this stunning emotional discovery, the person he needed most was nowhere in sight. Naruto decided he would go back for now, and try again tomorrow, it didn’t matter how long it took, he was going to find the raven and ask him. He had hope for this, this was new and he was going to see if the feeling was mutual. However just as he was about to take off a purple portal opened behind him, and a figure stepped out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke instantly turned to who had called him, he furrowed his brows at the sight. What in the world was the blonde doing here, he was supposed to be as far away from him as he could. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was the days he spent in a literal different dimension, not enough? This wasn’t safe…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto you’re not supposed to be here” Sasuke said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke….did you just leave again? Without telling anyone?” Naruto asked, voice a little broken</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fuck, Sasuke hated that look with Naruto. Now the blonde thinks he tried to abandoned him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No that’s no-” Sasuke paused, taking a deep breath “You need to go”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke please don’t start this again, not right, look you just tried to leave again and I need to talk to you about something really importa-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I’m serious, we cannot be near each other right now” Sasuke said with a little more force </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a frustrated sound at that “Sasuke just hear me out!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You hear me out, </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>, does Kakashi know you’re here?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made an angry face and walked closer, Sasuke stood his ground but watched the blonde carefully in case he made any sudden movements </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stood directly in front of the raven, slowly raising his hand to caress the pale face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke instantly made a confused face at the gesture, he was about to ask the blonde just what he was doing when Naruto placed a firm hand against his jaw and brought his face closer to his, connecting their lips. Naruto used the surprised gasped Sasuke made as an opportunity to stick his tongue inside the raven’s, licking upwards to try and taste him as much as he could </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke broke away from the kiss, stunned and taken off guard at the sudden intensity </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What are you doing?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke asked, extremely confused   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto returned his hand to Sasuke’s face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke please listen to me, I have to tell you something important” Naruto said softly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke didn’t move, choosing to just cooperate with the blonde who was acting so bizarre </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sas’ I….I….” Naruto took a breath and looked into beautiful mismatched eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I love you</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes widened, he slapped Naruto’s hand harshly away from him  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took a step back at the sudden action, he slowly reached out to touch the raven again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke moved far away from him, looking at him with disgust  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you saying such a stupid thing?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>😌💃🏻✨💅🏻💕😋</p><p>so im just sitting here in a restaurant, minding my business and eating my pupusas, when I hear someone call a pupusa a "meat-filled tortilla", Salvadoran community we were wrong this whole time 😩🤚🏻, this reminded me of when I saw someone on twitter call Horchata "Spanish Milk Tea" I'm-</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS I LOVE YOU ALL 😘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto stared at the raven, the harsh and cold words taking the breath out of his lungs. Sasuke only continued to look at him with absolute confusion</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke...It’s….” Naruto frowned “It’s not stupid”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You show up and start acting weird and now you’re saying outrageous things” Sasuke threw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m being serious!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go home Naruto”  Sasuke said  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No Sasuke, I’m-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For once, just once in your life, understand that you cannot be here and near me” Sasuke cut the blond off harshly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No Sasuke you listen to me. I’m so sick of you telling me the same thing and trying to push me away. Did you even hear what I said? I just said I love you” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re making no sense” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just fucking hear me out. I’ve been thinking a lot...about us and I just….I realize I like you a lot Sasuke. Not even like, but love you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve officially lost it Naruto. I’m going to tell you this one last time, go back to the village, it’s for your own good, just leave me alone” Sasuke said as he turned his back on the blonde and began walking towards his hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This caused something within Naruto to snap, rage filling his entire body, he reached out to furiously pull Sasuke’s cloak and bring him back in front of him, then grabbed a fistful of his shirt to force the raven to look at him, Sasuke had no choice but to peer into blue orbs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You fucking bastard. I just spent the past few days, </span>
  <em>
    <span>the past years</span>
  </em>
  <span>, in my mind trying to figure out if what I really felt for you was real and valid. I just confessed my love for you and you’re not even going to say anything to me about it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I never told you to love me, you’re wasting your time just like Sakura</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto swears he sees red, angered that the raven didn’t even say anything to him, saying those awful words that meant he refused to talk about it. Naruto was being absolutely vulnerable and said the three most powerful words you could ever tell someone, and Sasuke completely ignored him and tried to run away. Naruto let go in order to ball his fist, he delivered a powerful blow to Sasuke’s face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke flew back a bit, he forced himself to stop. He slowly raised a hand to touch his slightly throbbing cheek, his eyes moving to look at the angered blonde in front of him. Naruto had hit him. Sasuke’s eye slightly twitched, his own temper skyrocketing at the sudden hit, he had to control himself, he no longer engaged in fighting, especially with Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said to go back to the village Naruto” Sasuke said, voice dropping dangerously low </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m tired of you pushing me away. All these years I had to deal with the same shit from you. You keep running from me Sasuke, why can’t you understand that I won’t let you go. Have you ever thought about why I won’t let you off again? Because I love you. God, all these years, the reason why I was so determined to find you was because I love you” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stood up straight, not even giving Naruto a glance as he resumed walking back to his hideout. This only made Naruto rage even more, he ran up to hit the raven again, but this time Sasuke dodged it, Sasuke almost raised his hand, </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto what the fuck is wrong with you today?” Sasuke snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You always do this, running away from me. I won’t let you go that easily like when you pulled the same shit back in the war. If I have to fight you to get you to listen and talk to me, then I’ll do it” Naruto said as he pulled his arm back and pushed it forward </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stopped it with his open hand, </span>
  <em>
    <span>he was so close</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he could feel his anger practically flowing through him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled as he kicked Sasuke back, again Sasuke was pushed at the impact </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ran to him immediately and pulled out a kunai knife “I don’t give a fuck if you gave up fighting” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This was the breaking point for Sasuke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto flung the knife at Sasuke, Sasuke pulled out his sword to deflect the flying Kunai. When he looked at the blonde, Naruto saw the look Sasuke gave him, his eyes were red from both the Sharingan and fury</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was such a shame they had to resort to this for Naruto to get Sasuke to listen to him, at least he was giving Naruto his attention now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made his iconic hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>10 shadow clones appeared all around Sasuke, each one of them pulling out three shurikens. They jumped high and threw their metal stars at the raven, Sasuke dodge and jumped each one of them, his Sharingan and sword helping him see and cut through them</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ever since we were kids, we were bound by something. It was more than competition or rivalry, I sought you out because I wanted you to see me and acknowledge me. You were the only person in the village who understood my pain, you never hated me because I was some kind of demon. We used each other to grow and become stronger, I never understood how much you meant to me until I saw you almost die for me on our first mission together. Ever since then I knew you were something special to me, you were my best friend who I wanted to be equal and recognized by” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Sasuke deflected all the shuriken, he made his own fire hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fireball Jutsu!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blew and the flames flew straight forward and towards Naruto. Once Naruto was too busy jumping away from the chasing flames, Sasuke charged his sword with his lightning and ran to the blonde. Naruto saw this quickly and dodged the sword in time, he threw out another kick. Sasuke now jumped away </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto did his hand signs again, this time making 30 clones appear all around Sasuke. Sasuke gave an angry huff as he was surrounded by clones again, he was sick of this useless fight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke flashed his Rinnegan and charged his sword with lightning again, he held out one hand in front of him, the other tightly gripping his sword </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Universal Pull” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All clones including the real Naruto were caught, Sasuke skillfully cut through all the clones, when he reached the actual Naruto, Naruto just barely managed to move so he wouldn’t get a critical hit, although the sword managed to land a cut on Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto cried out in pain as Sasuke also kicked him back. When Naruto got back up, wincing slightly in pain, he realized Sasuke was amping this up, this was fine for Naruto, he’d follow up with the same energy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto formed a ball of chakra in his hand and it slowly began to mimic the shape of a shuriken, wind and chakra quickly pulling all around it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He threw the powerful form of chakra at the raven, Sasuke instantly ran but as he tried to do his hand signs, the chakra was too fast and it hit Sasuke. He flew through the forest, he landed harshly against a tree. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke got up with a grunt, Naruto was already charging at him again with another kunai knife. Sasuke did his hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke blew fiercely through his fingers again, a huge fireball taking form and hurdling right at the blonde. Naruto knew he couldn’t dodge this in time, he quickly cloaked himself with Kurama's chakra. But even with this shield, he still felt a significant impact of the fire. As he got up, Sasuke ran to him, his sword about to strike down at him. Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai knife, the two collided with a loud scrape, sparks flying</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We grew stronger together Sasuke, we were teammates and best friends, we were supposed to be by each other's side, fighting and being there for each other. But you left, you left the village, friends, team...you left me. I’ll never hold it against you, you were blinded by darkness and hate. By that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to stop you. But your determination to seek power for your vengeance and my determination to stop and bring you back was the exact same. So no matter how hard we fought that day at the waterfall, it was never going to work out. But you were stronger, I’ll give you that and you left. I was angry and hurt, of course I was. But I never forgot, I refused to let you be gone forever. You were my goal for all these years Sasuke, it was because of you I was able to get stronger and go through all this chaos to get you back. It was rough, God it was hard and painful, but I was willing to go through because I love you” Naruto said through gritted teeth </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke raised his sword briefly and planned to strike down back again more powerfully, Naruto used this opportunity to roll from under the raven and launched the kunai knife at the raven's back. Sasuke saw through this move with his Sharingan, though Naruto’s distraction tactic worked as quickly threw a shuriken at the raven from a new angle. It scraped the side of Sasuke’s face, a red line appearing on his cheekbone, blood seeping through. Naruto also threw a new kunai knife to knock the sword far away from Sasuke’s hand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke quickly wiped away the blood and sped up to catch the blonde, he was about to punch him, Naruto raised his arm to block. The two were locked in a tight battle, eyes never leaving each other</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just when I thought I had you back, you chose to separate yourself and leave the village all over again. You chose to be alone. I still didn’t give up. I found you again, I knew I wasn’t going to let you out of my sight again. At this point I don’t even care about Sakura’s feelings, you obviously don’t care about her. And it’s my turn to finally time for me to put my own emotions first, especially when it's about you. You know we are destined to be together Sasuke, fight and be at each other's side, but you chose to push everyone out, especially me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke moved back, and so did Naruto. The two then proceeded to throw punches and kicks at each other, both blocking and receiving the hits. They were reaching their limits, they both delivered powerful punches and knocked each other out, flying in opposite directions. They hit the tree’s as they flew back, both lying there trying to recover from the pain, both of them were really bruised and tired  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t let you get away from me. This whole atonement journey is fucking useless and you don’t need to repay for anything you did when you blinded by hate and lies. You don’t need to be alone anymore or run away, I just won’t let you. I will always chase after you, no matter how tired I am of it”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at the raven, eyes beginning to water </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll bear the burden of your hate and die with you...I love you Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke got up, his eyes were blocked by his bangs, but Naruto could see that he had his hand out, lighting sparks began to fly, the loud chirping-like sounds filled the air </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only felt his eyes sting with more tears, even after all that, even after Naruto recanted their tale and how he was guided and pushed by love with every experience he had with Sasuke….Sasuke wasn’t listening, he was blocking him out, and even worse, he didn’t feel the same way</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto now stood up from where he lied, he quickly wiped away his tears and blood that was coming from his mouth, raised his own hand, a large ball of chakra beginning to form </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, the two boys ran towards each other with all their might in speed. Naruto yelled with all the furry and sorrow he carried with him </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“SASUKE”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“NARUTO”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two pushed their powerful chakra forms against each other, it instantly collided and blinded them with light. They were pushing against each other hard, Sasuke barely managed to look at Naruto, he barely saw the tears that were falling off the blonde’s face. Sasuke pulled his hand back, the power of both the Chidori and Rasengan hitting him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hard</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He flew back far through the forest, breaking down both trees and ground as he landed. Naruto realized what Sasuke had done and gasped, he barely managed to see where Sasuke had landed, laying still in a crater on the ground. He ran to him and slid down the large hole, he ran to the raven. He instantly picked up Sasuke, putting his head against Sasuke’s chest</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His heart was still beating</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a very shaky sigh of relief</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you crazy? I could have killed you! Why would you do that?” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a while, Sasuke began to move, weakly and slowly pulling himself away from Naruto’s arms. Naruto allowed this, still shaken up from what had just happened. Sasuke rose weakly, his entire body hurt, he could just barely walk away. Naruto saw this and weakly put his arm out to catch the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>But S-Sasuke…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto whispered “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t leave me….not again…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this one 1️⃣ is for 🙌 the boys 👬 with the booming 🔊 system 📻 top 🔝 down 👇ac 🌬️ with the cooler ❄️ system 🎛️<br/>when he 👦 comes up 👆 in the club 🍷 he 👦 be blazing 🔥 up 🆙 got stacks 💵 on deck 🤲 he be savin 🏦 up ☝️</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS GANG 💞😚✌🏻</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sasuke stopped walking, he slowly turned around, holding his wince from the pain, he held two fingers out and tapped them against Naruto’s head</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go home Naruto…”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke limped his way back to his hideout, trying to find his way back using his tired out Sharingan, their battle caused him to fly miles back. He could feel Naruto staring at him, but Sasuke kept walking. He walked straight, never looking back once at the blonde that stayed in that crouched position, hurt written all over him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke felt as if he was walking forever, his entire body hurt so much he ended up deactivating his Sharingan to give him extra strength to go home. He was well into the forest, he still didn’t look back but he knew for the first time, after all these years</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto listened to him </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto didn’t follow</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And Sasuke’s heart absolutely broke at that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto had said he loved Sasuke, he confessed his love to him, he told him everything, that everything Naruto did and went through for Sasuke was because of love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke couldn’t believe it, in fact, he still refused to believe it. Naruto told their entire story and made it prominent that it was laced and founded on love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke knew it </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto was right. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It was love. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Sasuke was speaking the truth, he didn’t tell Naruto to love someone as awful as him, Naruto would just be wasting his time </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto would just be going through unnecessary pain again, Sasuke was supposed to be atoning, he didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of Naruto’s love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Sasuke did know...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In fact, this was something that always crept into his mind when he was out alone on a mission or reflecting journey. He thought about it and got upset </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got upset because he wondered why for his entire life, he acted and felt a specific way with Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>See the problem is they really were destined to be together, always seemingly needing to be by each other’s side. When they were just kids, they experienced the same pain, orphaned alone, carrying a burden of their own. They naturally gravitated towards each other due to their constant need to engage in some form of competition and bicker, but deep down they knew they were the only ones who understood each other’s pain. Then they were genin, and as fate would have it, they were placed in team 7 together. They had their first kiss there, but more importantly, on their first mission, Sasuke realized that there was someone he actually cared about who was worth dying for. Sasuke always thought it was just because his body naturally moved on its own. That was the excuse he would always use when it came to Naruto, but he knew deep down it’s because he actually cared for the blonde boy. They used each other to grow and get stronger as kids, their rivalry still strong, but a new and deeper bond took its place. Sasuke could call Naruto his best friend, for the first time since Itachi, he had someone close with he was willing to put up with </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Sasuke was blinded by lies, misconceptions, hatred, vengeance, and a taste to get power fast. He had left the village, he was aware that this would make him a traitor, but Sasuke had a goal in mind. He remembered those words his older brother told him, that once he killed his best friend he would understand and achieve true power for his vengeance. But Sasuke wouldn’t do that, yet they were drawn together to fight. And fight they did, to the max, right over the same waterfall their ancestors who shared the same fate did. They were equal in strength, Sasuke still remembers seeing Naruto laying there in the rain, it pained Sasuke so much, he couldn’t kill Naruto. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was gone, he got his power, he got his vengeance, although it was through a veil of lies and half-truths, and he did other deeds while he was consumed by hate and darkness, he fought, all he did was fight. Then he foolishly thought his last goal, to reach the dream his brother had, another goal fueled by vengeance to get revenge against the village, and what he had put off, he had to kill Naruto and take his dream. However destiny came into play again, he got the power of the Six Sage and had to seal away the ultimate enemy in this war. Once he fulfilled that duty, he looked at Naruto and realized. That realization came to him as if there was some light finally shining through a dark sky. When he looked at Naruto he saw:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tiredness </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Anger</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then Sasuke finally made the realization of the true consequences of his actions</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had hurt Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Sasuke gave it all up, he was so tired, he never wanted to see those things when he looked at Naruto, so he gave all his darkness and fighting spirit up. He would be the bigger person and take full responsibility for his mistakes if it meant he could relieve the pain and burden he caused Naruto. But Sasuke knew in order for Naruto to reach that peace, he needed to stay away from Sasuke. Sasuke was only a painful reminder and risk of all the pain and suffering Naruto went through. Sasuke just wanted Naruto to go on with his life and forget about him, he didn’t have to worry about a criminal like Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke curses their destiny almost every day because of course, Naruto had to find him and still continue to chase after him and cause him even more pain. Sasuke allowed it, something had shifted in their relationship, they were doing intimate things, he used another excuse for this and it was their anger. They grew close again, this situation came and now Sasuke was involved, again he was just a danger to Naruto now that his own chakra was involved. As if this wasn’t enough, with all the ongoing chaos, Sasuke tried to leave again, but Naruto found him and said he loved Sasuke  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So why was he always upset when he thought about this topic? He got upset because he reached the very same conclusion as Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything he did, every reason for his actions when it came to Naruto, the unfamiliar feeling he had his entire life for Naruto, the lingering care, the inability to see Naruto suffer for too long, the guilt, the shame </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was all because he loved Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke loves Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually did</span>
  </em>
  <span> achieve his goal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had killed Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had killed Naruto because he completely invalidated and disregarded his love and passionate words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Naruto had said those three strong words, Sasuke had to use his whole will to not let out a reaction, he couldn’t afford to let Naruto see the true impact his words had on Sasuke. Naruto actually felt the same? Naruto found it in his heart to truly forgive Sasuke? Ignoring all the pain and betrayal, Naruto had actually managed to love someone as despicable as Sasuke? It was too good to be true</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke had been struggling with his own feelings, he knew he felt strongly about Naruto, the word love had very briefly crossed his mind, but he pushed that possibility away almost immediately as he was certain Naruto couldn’t feel that way for Sasuke, not after everything he’s done</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he had, and when Naruto said those fucking three words, in that very moment Sasuke knew what he felt was love too</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And because he loved Naruto so much, he refused to let Naruto foolishly blind himself with this sentiment in order to continue pursuing Sasuke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would say it over and over again, he wasn’t going to be the source of Naruto’s pain or suffering, Sasuke didn’t have to be in Naruto’s life anymore, he had caused enough damage and he wanted to help Naruto by removing himself  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto never listened and still chased him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now there was this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke didn’t lie, he clung to those three words, </span>
  <em>
    <span>who wouldn’t?</span>
  </em>
  <span> But he just couldn’t let Naruto love him, he didn’t deserve it. So he had to do what he had to do from preventing Naruto to go through all that suffering again and fought Naruto once and for all </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because that was just how much Sasuke loves Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And when he completely pretended to ignore Naruto’s confession, the pure heartbreak he caused Naruto was burned in his eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he pretended to not care about Naruto’s story of how he came to love Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he saw Naruto crying when they were throwing their most powerful Jutsu on the waterfall  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he walked away from Naruto after receiving such a critical hit </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That hurt more than being hit with a combination of a Rasengan and Chidori</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke felt his eyes began to water</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He loved Naruto so much, and he’s lucky enough to have heard that Naruto felt the same, but how would he live with himself knowing that Naruto’s love for him would only bring more pain and fighting</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had to do what he had to do because he loves Naruto. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke wiped away at his eyes furiously, shaking his head, once again refusing to think about this anymore, they had reached the end of their story, Sasuke made sure of it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So when he tapped against Naruto’s forehead, he hoped that significant gesture was enough of a goodbye by letting him know of his true feelings for Naruto in their ultimate battle that they were destined to have </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After what felt like an eternity, night had fallen, legs practically burning after walking those miles, he had reached his hideout. Although it was barely recognizable given the battle that had just ensued. When Sasuke looked up, he felt his heart drop </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jumped from the tree he was resting on, landing directly in front of the raven, Naruto immediately frowned when he saw the bad shape Sasuke was in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only closed his eyes as he gave a deep sigh</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just when Sasuke had believed he had ripped off the bandage and finally got through to the blonde, Naruto came running back, he really cursed Naruto’s healing abilities, speed, and damn determination right now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke look at you...you’re hurt badly” Naruto said as he tried to walk closer to the raven. However, he was promptly stopped when Sasuke put a hand in front of him to stop him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why can’t you…” Sasuke looked up at Naruto, mismatched eyes meeting blue ones “...Just listen to me and leave me alone” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto clenched his jaw “I told you already” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shook his head “Please don’t Naruto, it’s not worth it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?... Why would you say that?” Naruto said as he furrowed eyebrows  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was nowhere left to run, the fight had already happened, Sasuke had no choice but to relieve himself of the truth again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You would only be causing yourself more pain and suffering” Sasuke said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“By loving you?” Naruto said with confusion </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke I can’t help I fucking feel. How would I be bringing pain and suffering to myself by loving you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you’d be attached to me even more. Every time I’m around or brought up in your memories is simply a risk factor and painful reminder of all the terrible and unforgivable things I’ve done to you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto growled “I said I don’t care about the past anymore, this is something that I’ve felt ever since we were kids. Don’t you get it Sasuke-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto this discussion ends now. I’m doing this because it’s for your own benefit” Sasuke cut him off coldly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SASUKE I SAID I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THAT I JUST DON’T CARE ABOUT THOSE THINGS. YOU DON’T CAUSE ME PAIN OR SUFFERING, YOU’RE NOT A FUCKING BURDEN TO ME. YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON TO ME WHO I AM WILLING TO GIVE MY OWN LIFE AWAY FOR. I LOVE YOU SASUKE” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s breath grew heavy as he finished shouting those words, Sasuke clenched his fist, those words hitting straight into his core again, Sasuke couldn’t show any emotion, this is the for Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Those sentiments are useless” Sasuke replied flatly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Answer me this teme, just fucking listen to me and actually talk to me. Do you feel the same way?” Naruto seethed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s heart began to race, he only narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. Naruto held his gaze, really trying to focus on Sasuke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well do you?” Naruto repeated with more fury </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why was he being like this? After all they’ve been through, Sasuke was still repeating the same bullshit. What was this sudden shift when Naruto was actually making progress? Why did Sasuke always do this to Naruto…..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why do something that hurts? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why did Naruto continue to do something that he knows hurts him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because he loves Sasuke……</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s applied that same logic, adding everything together, analyzing Sasuke’s behavior and actions up to this point all over again, blue orbs grew as he peered deeply into black and violent ones </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...You do, don’t you?” Naruto said slowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke slipped, his eyes widened briefly. How the hell did Naruto figure it out? No no, Sasuke wouldn’t allow it, he quickly composed himself again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do love me, that’s why you’ve been putting up with this. With all of me since we were kids, you feel the same way. If you really wanted me to go away and leave you alone you would have done something. That’s why you gave it up when we battled as kids, at the end of the war, when I found you again, just now in our fight. You held back because it pained you to leave me again, you think you’re going to hurt me all over again. You feel the exact same way, you go through painful things for me too, because you love me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke scoffed  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re pathetic.” Sasuke spat as he began walking away</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto clenched his hands tightly</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell me to leave and I will”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, silence filled the air </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pathetic.” Naruto smirked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although it was bitter and shortlived when he saw the reaction of the Uchiha </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke sharply turned back to Naruto “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto closed the distance between them, chests bumping harshly, Sasuke let out a small grunt of pain at the action</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“See? You can’t do it and you never fully can, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that leaving me is going to prevent me from going through more pain, you’re wrong. I’m always going to go after you, I’m not letting you go away. I love you” Naruto said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke felt trapped, his voice wavered against his wishes when he spoke “You shouldn’t” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“STOP SAYING THAT TEME” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“IT’S FUCKING TRUE USURATONKACHI. I DON’T DESERVE YOUR LOVE. AFTER ALL THE SHITTY THINGS I DID TO YOU. I MADE YOUR LIFE FUCKING MISERABLE FOR ALL THESE YEARS, YOU SAY YOU FORGIVE ME BUT I DON’T FORGIVE MYSELF. YOU DESERVE BETTER. I JUST WANT YOU TO ME HAPPY AND FORGET ABOUT ME, ALL I EVER TO DO IS HOLD YOU BACK AND MAKE YOU UNHAPPY”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto eyes stung again with tears at those god-awful words Sasuke just said, this sight made Sasuke tear up again, water gathering in the corner of his eyes, he looked away as they spilled out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I...don’t want you to suffer because of me anymore, because I….. I just want you to finally move on with your life without me dragging you back. So yes...I do this painful act of my own and for my entire life because…” Sasuke’s tears streamed down his face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s shaky hands reached out to wipe away at Sasuke’s tears, this only caused Sasuke to cry more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑔👩🎤𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑠𝑠🍑𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ🐎💨 𝑖 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑏𝑖𝑔🧠😳 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑠ℎ💋💸𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑚🔫𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡🌪</p><p>.........😃🍿</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS BABES✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto stopped wiping away at the mismatched eyes, his heart skipping a beat at what the raven had just said. Naruto’s own blue orbs stared directly into Sasuke’s eyes as if he was looking into his core </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“....S-Say that again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shook his head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You love me Sasuke? You said it…...do you really mean it?” Naruto said, he could barely think right now, all he wanted was Sasuke to repeat those precious words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t hurt you again Naruto” Sasuke’s voice cracked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re hurting me right now by not saying it again. Please Sasuke, I need to know...Is this how you really feel about me? All these years you felt that same connection we had” Naruto said as he cupped Sasuke’s face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke really shouldn’t, it seemed like no matter what he did he was still causing Naruto pain. He had just laid out his own confession, although not as poetic or heartfelt as Naruto’s, he had said the truth regardless. Sasuke saw the gleam of happiness flash across Naruto’s face and God how he would love to see it some more. But he had to do what was right for the both of them, if they were together the risks would be his fault. Every time Naruto would look at Sasuke, he would be reminded of everything Sasuke put him through. Sasuke just wanted that happiness to stay with Naruto, he couldn’t accept or believe he was responsible for it, no matter how badly he wanted to </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please” Naruto repeated, desperation heavily in his voice </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s heart tugged at Naruto’s tone</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He shouldn’t </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He couldn’t </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck Sasuke hated seeing Naruto so upset over him  </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shut his eyes tightly, more tears falling out against his wishes “I love you Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, he broke out in a huge smile</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke loves him </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Those marvelous and beautiful words that Naruto didn’t even know could fill him with such euphoria</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke felt the same way, they love each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Love </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both felt it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto loves Sasuke and Sasuke loves Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s own eyes watered now, this time it was tears of joys. He put his forehead against Sasuke’s “I love you Sasuke…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the first time in a while, Sasuke actually felt joy. Naruto had said it again, how he wished he could hear him say it over and over. Sasuke tried to push Naruto away, but Naruto still had his hands on Sasuke’s face, only moving his head back to fully face the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why Naruto?” Sasuke said, voice cracking “You know what I did to you. How could you love someone like me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll tell you this as many times if I have to. I care about you, I am devoted to you, you acknowledged me, you recognized me. I will always go after you Sasuke, never let you go, we share a bond that can’t be broken, we are always destined to be together. The past doesn’t matter, any pain that let, all the burdens, I will carry for the both of us until I die. All this, because I love you with every inch of my being” Naruto said passionately  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a small gasp at the strong words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was no way he should be this lucky, Naruto was the ultimate light in his life. The blonde really has chosen to forgive their past and all the terrible things Sasuke did to him, just because he loves Sasuke that much. Naruto would never give up on Sasuke</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you deserve it Sasuke. Your mistakes were not your fault, you were hurting inside. If you’re not happy then I’m not happy” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Was this real? Can Sasuke really have this? After everything he’s done…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto...I….don’t know what to say” Sasuke whispered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just accept it Sasuke. This is what we both feel, this is love. Our care, devotion, acknowledgment, recognition for each other, this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>our </span>
  </em>
  <span>love” Naruto said softly  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto caressed the pale cheek before his hand slid down to his jaw, tilting it to the side and connecting their lips </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This kiss was different from the other ones they’ve carelessly shared, this one was much more intimate, all the pain and unspoken sentiments were said with their lips. They moved with more passion, afraid that if they let go, all this would go to waste and disappear again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unfortunately, they remembered they needed air to breathe and reluctantly broke away as their lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. They stared at each other, nothing but adoration painting their faces. Naruto gave a chuckled, Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s so funny?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did all that yapping about hurting me when I hurt you, you’re all bruised up. Nothing my love can’t heal up ya know”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a weak laugh, of course Naruto’s goofy personality would shine through again after such an intense and emotional confrontation they had </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dobe” was all Sasuke could say</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto broke out in a huge grin, he picked up Sasuke and held him close, peppering his face with kisses </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You really love me Sas’, this is the best thing in the entire world!” Naruto cried out in between his kisses </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still kind of hurt Naruto” Sasuke said, face growing red from the affectionate smooches</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh right. I’m really sorry about all of that, and for kinda starting this” Naruto said as he placed Sasuke back down gently</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto never would change, he still tried to overlook Sasuke’s actions </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever” Sasuke said, although a small smile crept on his face “I mean who wouldn’t be that deeply in love with me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Teme! You love me too!” Naruto threw back playfully </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You love me…” Naruto repeated, he wanted to touch Sasuke again, never let him go now that he knew they reached the ultimate connection </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto swept up the raven in his arms, carrying him bridal style and leaning down to kiss him gently</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah” Sasuke said as he broke away from his kiss, wincing slightly at the small pain he still felt in his limbs </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right! Here let’s get you cleaned up and taken care of, it’s the least I could do” Naruto smiled as he walked into the hideout </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you plan on replanting the forest too?” Sasuke said as they walked inside the hideout, away from the battle scene that was needed for them to confess their true emotions </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto placed Sasuke on the sink in his bathroom, trying to find a first aid kit “Man if only we had the First Hokage or Yamato around” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto promptly tended to the raven’s wounds, the biggest one being the huge burn scar in the middle of his chest. Naruto very carefully ran his fingers over it, Sasuke bit his lip to no let out any noise of pain, but to Naruto the scar was beautiful. It was a reminder of the sacrifices and challenges they went through to get where they were</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You love me” Naruto said as he looked at the scar more </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How many times are you going to repeat it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As much as I want, it still feels so unreal” Naruto said looking up to black and purple eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stayed silent, face beginning to grow red</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I’ll say the same to you as much as I want. I love you, I love you, I love you” Naruto said as he kissed Sasuke’s lips again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke kissed back just as eagerly, he kissed as if this was going to be taken away from him, they both shared the same feelings, the bond that was already unbreakable only strengthening. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is this really what they felt for all these years? Was this how it felt like to be loved? To be in love?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto released them, once gain happily caressing Sasuke’s face “You should take a shower. That’ll help the pain” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke slowly jumped off the sink, still a little uneasy, but his body felt much better than earlier. He began to shake off his top when he remembered the blonde was still in the bathroom, he gave Naruto a look </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? Do you need help?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, can you just…” Sasuke tried to say </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Well c’mon Sas’ it’s not like I haven’t already seen you naked, if anything I think I’m more than allowed to see you like this now” Naruto grinned suggestively </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not the point!” Sasuke grumbled, blushing again “Perv” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, it’s not like that ya know! You can’t even get out of your clothes, besides I need a shower too, I’m all dirty myself” Naruto said as he looked at his own battered clothes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can do it myself! And you’re one to talk being healed up so fast” Sasuke said, but swear he resembles a tomato by now just thinking of being in the shower with Naruto, especially since they had this newfound feeling floating around them now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto shrugged as he began to disrobe, Sasuke kept his gaze to the ground. He heard the blonde start the shower and get in. He slowly began to undress from his own clothes, watching them pool at his feet. It was only still he saw the steam fill the bathroom that he decided to lookup     </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stood in the spray of the water, his head tipped back so the shower can splash against his hair and shut his eyes. Sasuke hesitates, pausing to stare at the droplets hitting the other’s skin, entranced by the way the water collects at Naruto’s collarbone and skids into a waterfall against his muscular arms. Naruto lets out a sigh, his cheeks starting to glow red from the hot water and the fact that he knew Sasuke was watching him, and then he’s tipping his head back again, reaching up to push the water through his hair. Sasuke steps forward without thinking, drawn in as inexorably as if by a magnet. He can see Naruto’s breathing catching in his chest, his cock growing hard against his belly, and he doesn’t mean to sigh in appreciation until the sound is off his lips and free into the hot humidity of the air</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me take care of you Sasuke, after all we’ve been through” Naruto says without opening his eyes, but he leans in when Sasuke brushes his fingertips against the water catching against his hip. Sasuke takes another half step-in, his skin going wet again from the splash of moisture off Naruto’s body, but he doesn’t think of that at all. Everything in him is falling into humming focus on the slip of the warm skin under his fingers, on the way Naruto’s hip fits against the palm of his hand when he reaches out</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto...” Sasuke says, so soft it’s almost an inadvertent whisper “I….”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The other lowers his chin again, blinks water from his eyes to offer Sasuke a look into his blue orbs of promise</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just relax okay” Naruto says, reaching out one wet hand to close against Sasuke’s toned arm</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feeling the effects of their situation, Sasuke quickly leans up to kiss the water that’s collected against Naruto’s eyebrow. Naruto stiffens under the contact, his breathing stalling for a minute, most than likely surprised by the sudden intimate act</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But soon enough, Naruto slides his hand down Sasuke’s back, follows the line of his vertebrae until the stretch becomes too much. There was this familiar feeling they felt whenever they got close. This time it wasn’t anger, it was love. Love is what was pushing them to be so sensual and connect on a physical level. It burned at Naruto and all he wanted was to make Sasuke feel good,</span>
  <em>
    <span> he did say he was going to take care of them  </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pushes at the pale hip, offering “Turn around” only as clarification once Sauke has already begun to move. He twists in place in obedience, offers the line of his shoulders and the curve of his back for Naruto’s consideration</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The other hums with satisfaction as he reaches out to slide his hand against Sasuke’s waist. Despite the small bruises, Sasuke looked like a sculpture, his skin turned porcelain smooth by the sheen of the water running across his back, every line under his skin is thrown into relief by the fall of liquid over his shoulders. Naruto steps in closer and bumps his foot against Sasuke’s as he lets his hand trace in against the curving line of the other’s hip.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Frozen in place, Sasuke can hear the breath Naruto takes, the sound so low and primal it’s audible even over the sound of the water. He reaches out, carefully sets his hand flat and bracing against the wall in front of him, and keeps the other at his side, fingers stretching anxiously</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sasuke”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto says now, breathing the name against his ear and watching the way Sasuke shudders helplessly under the spray of the shower. The water does nothing at all to rinse away the flush staining his cheeks, his neck, the back of his shoulders, building on the anticipation from flooding his veins with heat that needs no further encouragement. Sasuke’s eyes are shut, tips his head back, his fingers against the wall like he’s trying to drive his hold straight into the tile to hold himself steady</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so lucky to be the only one to touch you like this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke feels the words against his ear before it registers. Sasuke’s shoulders tense, steadying himself in place as Naruto glides his hand sideways across the flat of Sauke’s toned stomach, perfected from years of continued training</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto grins against the wet of Sasuke’s hair, waiting as Sasuke gathers himself enough to get some words out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-Hurry up and touch me dobe” Sasuke says shakily, the desire in his stomach growing </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughs, the sound shaky-weak but amused, all the same, it was nice to know Sasuke was beginning to feel the bliss of their new feelings. He leans in to lick the water off Sasuke’s shoulder. Even with his arm braced against the wall, Sasuke shivers at the touch, shaking until Naruto sighs again and using his hand at his stomach to wrap around his waist to hold him steady</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>When Naruto pulls him back, Sasuke goes easily, curving in against Naruto’s chest and bumping in against the other’s length, but Naruto doesn’t pause to do more than hum pleasure at the contact and rock in a little closer. Sasuke opens his eyes briefly before the spray of the shower causes him to close them, and Naruto skids his other hand down the skinny line of Sasuke’s spine, simultaneously pressing harder with his hand now on his side, arm keeping the raven still. He uses the same hand on his back to draw down along his bum to the tense heat at his entrance.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shivers at the touch. The splash of the water has claimed dominance over his attention and his thoughts. When Naruto pushes with one finger, threatening friction without enough force to follow through, Sasuke gasps something wordless and loud, a tremor of a response given shape into sound. Naruto then lets his hand bracing Steph’s waist travel down until he can stretch his little finger out and bump the base of Sasuke’s flushed cock, a glancing impact that still makes him choke and shake with the suggestion</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto tilts his hips in, fits his cock against the edge of Sasuke’s hip, and Sasuke gives up some garbled sound, words torn to shreds over the tension in his body until they’re nothing but noise. Sasuke moans, hips working backward like he’s trying to fuck himself on the other’s fingers, though moving will ruin any chance of coherency, although he doesn’t really need to be coherent anyways </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So good Sas’” Naruto mumbles against the back of Sasuke’s neck. He tilts his wrist into an angle, pushes one finger carefully inside him, and Sasuke makes a shattered sound, a growl dissolving into a moan as the finger pressed inside him. “So fucking good” Naruto sounds as if he is panting this time, drawing back to ease forward again, holding Sasuke still against him to keep him from moving and disrupting the necessarily slow rhythm. Naruto then turns his hand, pushes in deep enough for Sasuke to arch his back into an involuntary curve, to tilt his head back further on a startled bark of sound</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span> “Ahhhh”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke let out helplessly </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto draws his hand back, and Sasuke hears him suck against his fingers for a moment for a little more lubrication.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The sound makes Sasuke whimper, desperate and shaking for it, trembling like Naruto’s hold is the only thing keeping him upright. Naruto continues as he reaches back down to stretch Sasuke open around a pair of fingers, the force enough to jolt a tremor through the other boy and twitch hot through his cock at Naruto’s fingertips</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto ducks in close and kisses the wet off Sasuke’s shoulder, who moans, then dips his head in submission to the water and kissed the blonde. Once Naruto’s fingers thrust farther into him, Sasuke broke the kiss, gasping a lungful of air as his shoulders shiver with tension, legs quaking with each thrust of the other’s fingers</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>A thrust, a twist, and Sasuke arches again, rewarding Naruto with a groan that spills up from his throat as liquid as the water around them. Naruto is breathing faster, fighting for enough air from the dampness hanging around them, but his hand doesn’t slow, the pace of his movement set by instinct rather than conscious effort. Sasuke is gasping, sounds like he’s choking, like he can’t suck enough air from the space around him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>All Naruto can see of Sasuke is the wet slackness of his mouth, he inhales dropping into the unconscious effort as Sasuke braces against the wall. Naruto slicks his palm over himself, steps in between Sasuke’s wide-open stance, and then he has to lean in close, bracing his hand on the cool tile between Sasuke and let his hold against the raven’s stomach go so he can steady himself instead, bracing his fingers against the base of his cock as he looks down to line himself up</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Sas’ I’m going slow” Naruto says as he places a kiss on the pale shoulder, bumps the head of his cock against Sasuke, the other boy shudders and moans frantic incoherence. Sasuke can feel the ache of anticipation pooling low in his stomach, can see the adrenaline of their previous events shivering in his leg as he lifts his foot off the tile to place it on the edge of the tub, giving Naruto a better angle. Naruto hums in appreciation before tipping his hips forward, letting himself slide an inch into the heat of Sasuke’s body, and Sasuke groans, long and low and so drawlingly loud. Now Naruto doesn’t consider stopping the steady-slow thrust of his hips as he slides into him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re so tight for me” Naruto whispers in his ear, the words spilling as they catch heat on the water in the air, tipping himself forward to breathe hard off Sasuke’s skin </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s moving slow, finding a gentle rhythm to his motion, but Sasuke is gasping anyway, choking on the water in the air and his leg shaking like he’s coming apart, whimpering something like half a groan and half appreciation against the weight of the humidity. Naruto mouths at his shoulder, drags his teeth over the slightly bruised skin, and Sasuke trembles as the other draws back to thrust in again, deeper this time</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Touching you like this drives me crazy ya know” Naruto mouths against his shoulder, even though Sasuke’s not listening. Naruto reaches out and around, slides his fingers down the trembling taut of Sasuke’s stomach as slowly as he can bear. Sasuke bites back a sound as Naruto’s fingers dip down to his hips, touch skimming the base of his cock. Sasuke quickly tilts his head to look at Naruto, who kisses him again, wordless comfort hot on his lips, and drags his fingers up slow so he can feel the way Sasuke tenses around him at the touch</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto fingers as his groin tighten against the resistance of Sasuke’s cock, and Sasuke chokes off a sound, a weird broken noise. Naruto shifts his grip, and Sasuke can feel the texture of his callused hands against his soft skin. He groans when Naruto slides his thumb against the head of his cock, does it again as he tips his hips back to thrust in deep, and Sasuke can feel his attention failing him. His awareness and the heat and even the wet of the shower fade away as the slow slide of Naruto’s hand on his length and the rhythmic thrust of his cock into the other boy’s body fall into perfect harmony</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke starts rocking back as Naruto continues thrusting forward, caught between the two sensations and clearly unable to pick a preference and Sasuke can’t quite catch his breath for the warmth in the air. Sasuke’s arm is aching from the force of holding himself up, and his body is shaking, trembling, hot with the adrenaline that turns him into something wild</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“God all I can think about is fucking you anytime I want Sasuke” Naruto says in a sensual tone, lost in the euphoria of it all, Naruto strokes up hard, tightening his fingers with the confidence of conviction, and Sasuke jerks, wails a broken startled sound and comes so suddenly even he is surprised</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke starts gasping for air, sucking in liquid and water alike in coughing desperation. His vision goes white, his hearing rings into inconsequence, he thinks he might have stopped breathing, that he may be stalled on air that he’s forgotten what to do with, but it doesn’t matter because his whole body is shaking, is quivering with the sensation surging through him like waves. Naruto is still thrusting into him, his movements falling into a far faster rhythm as he groans something, Sasuke’s name or a curse or just heat, but Sasuke can’t pay enough attention to parse the meaning in his head. He’s falling forward against the shower wall, his arms giving way to place his hands on the tile, arching his back</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s movement is radiating out into him, filling Sasuke with electricity too bright and overwhelming to be endured, but when Sasuke finally manages to gasp a breath it’s Naruto’s name on his lips instead of protest, encouragement as the slide of the other into him draws the expanse of surging pleasure to unbearable heights. Naruto’s fingers had moved to his hips in the midst of it all, tightening to a white-knuckled hold</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s breathing comes faster in the distance and then his hips drive forward once more as he groans and starts to come. Sasuke shudders with it, body trembling like he’s awestruck with each spill of heat from Naruto’s cock inside him, who groans a low note of absolute relief and leans forward to press his forehead against Sasuke’s shoulders</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, the grip on his member eases, and Naruto draws back to slide out of him in a spill of slick liquid. He pulls back sooner than Sasuke would like. But after a moment, Naruto’s fingers gently come to his throat. Sasuke turns his head under the contact, presenting his throat and Naruto presses his lips into the wet skin there, breath ghosting warm against him. Sasuke shudders, a full-body reaction to the weight of the other’s hand at his throat, and Naruto tightens his hold carefully, pressing his grip slowly tighter so he doesn’t catch friction under his fingertips. Sasuke’s mind is still hazy with heat from his orgasm, but he closes his eyes and tries to relax. It’s only then that Naruto leans in close enough to press a careful kiss to Sasuke’s lips, Sasuke’s whimpers appreciation</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto kisses him once more, this time a press of lips to his jaw, the contact enough for Sasuke to feel the tension of a smile at the other’s lips</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “I thought we were in here for a shower” Naruto smirks</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...really dislike you” Sasuke struggled to say, due to the intensity of their actions, blushing hard</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can’t even say you hate me anymore! Maybe this helped after all” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke weakly whacked the side of the blonde’s head, Naruto laughed in response, reaching out to wrap his arms around the pale body and let them stand underneath the spray together. Washing away all the bad memories and pains from their endless battles, washing the new pleasurable memories they could share together</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys finally managed to cleanse themselves of their activities and stepped out of the shower, towels wrapped around their bottom halves. Naruto immediately collapsed on Sasuke’s bed and let out a deep sighed, very tired from the day’s activities </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “I’m so tired, you have no idea” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, because you’re the one who got hit with a literal ball of powerful chakra just a few hours ago” Sasuke scoffed, if anything his body has definitely been the ones whose been pushed to the max today</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right right, sit down then. I can heal you up even more” Naruto said with a certain gleam in his eye</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke didn’t like what the look did to him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you not tired</span>
  <em>
    <span>...after everything?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke blushed. Regardless, rolling his eyes, Sasuke walks toward him and crosses his arms over his chest, towel still held up by the way he tucked it around his waist. Though his expression remains blank, he still sits down next to the other on the bed, only a mere foot apart</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>There is a hand at his head, the slip of tan fingers across the top of Sasuke’s hair, and then the familiar scent of Naruto lingers as the other leans closer until his face comes close to his neck. It’s remarkably pleasant in the dark, no doubt reaching almost midnight now, with the warm breath against his skin and the gentle press of  Naruto’s fingers against his scalp, rubbing his hair and skin at once. When Sasuke looks down at the other, surprised by the tender touch, Naruto grins up at him, the expression tugging sharply at his lips</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s breath catches at the sudden drag of Naruto’s lips on his skin, pants softly when Naruto’s tongue trails across his neck. And when he hears, “I don’t think I did a good job of taken care of ya back there. How about we try again?” Sasuke makes the mistake of answering </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes”</span>
  </em>
  <span> in a hushed voice.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto pulls away unexpectantly, leaning back and away so suddenly Sasuke’s left chilled with his absence. Sasuke starts to push himself up, but he doesn’t’ have a choice, as it turns out, because Naruto closes his hand on his hip, pulls off his towel with a quick agile tug, and pushes him over onto his stomach. Before Sasuke can protest, Naruto roughly drags him up to lean over the bedsheets on his hands and knees above him. And then his knees are between Sasuke’s calves and his hands are on his thighs and tongue dragging hot and wet over sensitive skin along his back until Sasuke cries out loudly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “N-Naruto….wait” Sasuke whines, reaching up to grip the pillow near his head, pulling it to his chest “I’m still….senseitve and k-kinda bruised” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto wasn’t really listening to Sasuke, he meant well and he wanted to feel good, unfortunately, he was losing a battle to his primal desires and wanted to touch and feel Sasuke as fast as possible </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, I─” and Sasuke’s voice fractures, cracking straight down the middle as the other’s hands on his hips slide down to his thighs. The friction alone is bad enough, just the suggestion of Naruto’s tongue against his hole was enough to speed his breathing and tense his shoulders. But then Naruto had dug his fingers into Sasuke’s legs and pressed his mouth close to Sasuke’s skin. When he started working his tongue down until he stopped at his hole, all Sasuke was left to do was moan helplessly as tears threatened at the edge of his eyes</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>His whole existence is melting down around him, like his very sense of self is coming undone as the slick pressure of Naruto’s tongue thrusts into him. His speech gives way to a moan, a drawn-out, shuddering wail of heat as his hand’s fist on the sheets, but even when he gets enough traction to push himself backward, he hits that wall of Naruto’s strong hands against him holding him precisely where the other wants him. Sasuke whines again, whimpering helpless protest to the resistance, but when he says “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto</span>
  </em>
  <span>” it comes out sounding more like a moan than a protest. He can’t even be sure in himself which one he intended</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>His cock is aching in time with the beat of his heart, Sasuke can’t even believe he is hard again. There’s no way it will lead to an orgasm…. he’s sure of it. Yet, he can feel the tremor purring under his skin with every movement of Naruto’s mouth and every low hum of sound in the other’s throat. If he tips his chin down, he can see how hard he is, can see the heavy flush of arousal coloring his cock. Sasuke’s aching for want of contact despite what his head thinks</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s hold at his thighs is unbreakable, his fingers spread wide against the outside of Sasuke’s legs and his thumbs pressing bruise-hard against the softer inside line, and Sasuke can’t even try and get enough motion to rock himself down and flat against the bed in an attempt to see if he can even orgasm</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, moving would require pulling away from Naruto’s mouth, and despite the friction, he considers strained and painful, Sasuke can feel the ache along his spine like an addiction, can’t muster the mental fortitude to even consider giving up the sensation. Every thrust of Naruto’s tongue surges heat up his spine and trembles heavily into his blood, and it might not be enough but it feels good,</span>
  <em>
    <span> it feels so good</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and some dizzy, heat-blurred part of Sasuke’s mind never wants him to stop.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Luckily for Sasuke, Naruto doesn’t seem inclined to. Naruto hasn’t so much as shifted take off his towel or give himself something to rock against for some minimal relief as he holds Sasuke right at the edge of satisfaction. Sasuke is sure he would at least tried if he was in his position, would have at least given up the weight of one hand to remove his towel and close a stroking hand around the heat of his cock</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The idea alone makes him shudder, brings his hips rocking forward to thrust helplessly against the unresisting air because he can’t help himself at this point, but Naruto keeps his hold on his thighs and no sooner has his forward motion his steady hold, gentle and as unbreakable as steel. Naruto pushes in farther, his tongue sliding deep into Sasuke’s body, and he moans again, spine curving in involuntary reaction to the friction of Naruto licking into him. The wet warmth of Naruto’s tongue stretching him open deeper than he thought possible and twitching another surge of heat into his already-aching cock. His vision is blurring, his fingers dragging across the soft of the sheets under him, and then Naruto shifts and pushes into him with more force than thought possible. Everything in Sasuke’s body jerks to tension, his throat closing up on a wail of heat as friction flickers like electricity all over his body</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh fuck...”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke groans</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His pale legs flex in desperation that lacks a goal, he can’t decide if he wants to buck forward to gain friction for his cock or push backwards to urge Naruto to greater movement, to greater depth, to greater pressure against the ache of desire so hot inside him. Sasuke knows now he wants the force of fingers, wants the angle of Naruto’s cock sliding into him again. Sasuke wishes Naruto would lift a hand, would reach between his canted-open legs and drag his fingers against his cock, maybe just press the curve of his palm. But Naruto’s hands aren’t moving, if anything his hold is going tighter as if he thinks Sasuke might try to pull forward and break free as the tremors of desperate need in him start to quiver throughout his entire body. Sasuke isn’t trying to move away, but it doesn’t matter anyway. Naruto’s hands are holding his legs unmoving even as the other redoubles his already superhuman efforts </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto is all Sasuke can feel and even the weight of his grip on his thighs is fading out to the slick thrust of the other’s tongue into him. Sasuke starts gasping for breath and shaking with want, feels the sparks along his spine accumulating into something so familiar he can’t mistake it for anything but impending orgasm.</span>
  <em>
    <span> It’s just not possible</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Na..ah...Naruto</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke whines, feeling his body straining, feeling his hold bracing him in place anyway “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh god, fuck, I’m─”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He’s shaking, his entire body is quivering as convulsively as if Naruto’s touch is an electrical current running through him, but his breathing is hitching, his shoulders are tensing, he’s going to pass out, not come. He starts to panic, clinging to consciousness as desperately as he’s clinging to the sheets under him.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He’s close, he’s close, he’s so close</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto lifts a hand, finally, and pushes his index finger right into his hole, next to his tongue. And Sasuke has a heartbeat of time to see the wave coming for him, to breathe </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Like a prayer for salvation before every muscle in his body seizes into the most unbearably intense orgasm he’s ever experienced. He can’t even believe he’s coming, loses track of the heat pulsing through his cock as much as loses the sensation of Naruto’s tongue working inside him. There are only the waves of pleasure, only the heat rushing through him in long, quivering jolts and pulling sound he doesn’t hear out of his throat</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know if he’s crying out, if his voice is cracking embarrassingly high and piercing on the rush of heat in him, if it’s Naruto’s name he’s spilling past his lips on the flood of relief. All he can hold in himself is the pleasure, as if his existence itself is ebbing and flowing with each cresting wave of sensation. Sasuke’s spine arches through a last jolt of friction as the other’s tongue slides out of him to leave him achy and trembling in the aftershocks of his overwhelming orgasm</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto pulls away eventually and smiles to himself, admiring how beautiful Sasuke looked when he came undone by how own hands. Naruto touch draws away from his legs and leaves him free. Sasuke doesn’t think to move, doesn’t think to do anything but blink very slowly as he watches the haze of his vision narrow and expands with each shift of his lashes</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a sound behind him, a minor tremor through the bed as Naruto shifts his weight over the mattress, but still, Sasuke doesn’t so much as flicker until there’s a touch at his hip, until there’s the warmth of Naruto’s palm catching and bracing against his skin. Naruto’s fingers tightening against Sasuke’s hip like he’s bracing himself in place. Sasuke has a moment to piece together the implications of that, to reach for the logic going by too fast for his pleasure-fogged brain to parse and then Naruto presses against him.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>There’s slick heat dragging against Sasuke’s entrance again, and his eyes come open wide, his throat straining over </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fuck Sasuke...”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto sighs himself into a low rumble of anticipation</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s cock is slippery against his skin, as hot to the touch as his tongue was and offering far more resistance due to his size even with this glancing contact, and Sasuke’s whole body tenses for a moment, shuddering through a much-delayed aftershock of his orgasm at the idea of having Naruto back inside him so soon</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>It’s too much, it’s too soon, his legs are trembling just with the idea, but Naruto doesn’t have to pull him back to rock his weight back, doesn’t have to ask before Sasuke is closing his hands on the sheets under him once again to brace for the other’s forward motion</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Feels so good Sas’” Naruto rumbles over him, the praise ringing in his ears. He sounds appreciative, sounds pleased and satisfied before he’s even moved, and Sasuke can’t help but quiver in response, his body reacting to his voice</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto” Sasuke pants back, and his arms flex, his shoulders working so he can tilt himself backwards, can push futilely against the grip of the hand at his hip “Please...”.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything for you” Naruto says lowly, and that’s all the warning he gives before he’s rocking his hips forward and letting the slick heat of his cock stretch Sasuke open. Sasuke’s chest flexes, his lungs emptying into the pillow at Naruto’s motion, but Naruto keeps moving forward and Sasuke is left without the air to whimper as the other’s movement drags hard across oversensitive nerve endings</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s body jerks, his cock unbelievably twitching in a frantic attempt at heat again, and Naruto’s other hand closes at his far hip to brace him in place, to hold Sasuke up over his knees even as the tremors of too much stimulation leave him helpless to the other’s hold, pulls him back and onto his cock. Sasuke moans as his body shakes through another flush of unsolicited arousal, and then Naruto is leaning close against him and reaching to drag his fingers over Sasuke’s over-sensitive cock. All of Sasuke’s awareness of the way they must look, of the way he must look to Naruto’s steady consideration, undoes itself into a helpless moan as the hand closes around him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t get enough” Naruto grunts, but the stimulation is too much, despite Naruto’s words. It was too much before, with just Naruto’s cock sliding over nerve endings made achingly sensitive with the extended effort of the other’s tongue, but this is something else again. This is Naruto’s grip dragging up over Sasuke’s cock. The sensation is excessive, is tearing through Sasuke like an excess of electricity, but the heat is building low in his stomach again and he doesn’t want Naruto to stop, even when the other’s fingers slide over the head of his cock and he sobs against the sheets, even when the heat that spills a few drops of precome over Naruto’s fingers is trembling to the verge of cramps in his thighs. Naruto feels it too because he leans down to press his lips against the side of Sasuke’s bruised neck and whispers</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I love you so much</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke can’t imagine recovering from this, can’t figure out how he’s still remembering to breathe even now, but Naruto is still thrusting into him and is still dragging up over him, panting at the back of his neck </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto tips forward and rocks his hips with a drive into Sasuke, Naruto’s hand is moving faster. Sasuke doesn’t care as he slides forward to lie flat against the bed, doesn’t care about the way the angle strains the inside of his shaking thighs. His toes are curling against the bed, his fingers are fisting at the sheets, and Naruto is completely on top of him now, the weight of the other’s body holding him still against the force of movement into him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s vision is blurring, breathing is catching into gasping inhales around each of the moans he’s offering for every forward thrust of Naruto’s cock, and when Naruto twists his wrist and jerks hard over him his shoulders tense, his head tips back so hard he can feel the strain in his neck. Sasuke’s lashes flutter, his mouth opens, his entire body clenching suddenly tight as his cock jerks in Naruto’s hold, and his chest tenses against a drawn-out wail of sound in his throat</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The first convulsion doesn’t even feel like pleasure at first, barely feels like relief. But Naruto groans behind him, his voice dropping to a resonance that Sasuke has never heard from him before. When he takes a thrust forward, Naruto’s rhythm breaks, his composure giving way as his cock spills a flood of heat into Sasuke. Sasuke moans against the sensation, feels his body tense in reaction more psychological than physical, this time, and over him, Naruto huffs a low note and rocks in harder, as if he can get any deeper than he already is</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He’s too heavy, the weight of his body and the stretch of his cock both more than Sasuke’s trembling body can bear, but he doesn’t try to move away, and doesn’t protest, just lies where he is and lets the ripples of heat run their course through his body and leave him heavy and boneless against the sheets. Sasuke doesn’t move for what feels like a very long while. He can feel himself going lightheaded, from the heat or the pressure or just absolute exhaustion, but he can’t figure out if he should move, if he should bother trying to extricate himself from the danger of actually passing out with Naruto on top of him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He’s still thinking through the problem with a hazy logic that promises to make the decision for him if it continues on as slowly as it started when Naruto finally shifts, just enough to ease his hold off of Sasuke’s hip and draw his hand up instead. His fingers reach up to his neck, draw the weight of his head, and Sasuke stirs at the contact, the weight of the other’s touch at his skin enough to pull his eyes open and force his vision back to focus</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a bad angle to see from, even when he tries. Sasuke’s head is canted to the side and Naruto is leaning over his shoulder so it’s hard to see anything but the set of his mouth and the line of his jaw, but it doesn’t matter anyway, because Naruto is leaning in to press his lips against Sasuke’s forehead. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke huffs a laugh, his mouth curving into a smile without any effort, and he keeps his eyes shut and lies still while Naruto fits kisses against the salt-sweat damp of his forehead and over the angle of his cheek. By the time Naruto has worked his way down to the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, Sasuke has lost any chance he may have had at holding back the curve at his lips, even when Naruto presses a kiss to the edge of his smile. Naruto doesn’t protest, doesn’t draw away, he just waits, his breathing falling warm over Sasuke’s skin, and as soon as Sasukes’ laughter stops, he pulls away to look down at him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The light is behind his head, casting his face in shadow and half-blinding Sasuke, a smile against his mouth, a momentary softness in his eyes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>MHMMMMMMMMMM</p><p>NAH CUZ ALL YALL BE SAYING I DO IS BE MESSY, CAUSE DRAMA, PLAY WITH FEELINGS, LIE, AND EAT HOT CHIP🔫</p><p>BUT HERE WE ARE GANNGGGGG SHEEESHHHH🥵</p><p>I'm in a good mood today, saw mortal kombat (saw my baby daddies subzero, lui kang, kung lao), got some panera, finished my semester, won a $20 gift card for winning my law exam review, and tmr I got movesss</p><p>SO ENJOY, PLAY STREETS AND THROAT BABY WHILE YOU READ THIS CUZ YALL BE SAYING ION SHOW YALL NO TYPES OF LOVE</p><p>comment &amp; kudos 😘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sasuke was sore</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Very, very, very, very sore </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stretched one more time, trying to work out every kink, bruise, and soreness he felt</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I feel great!” Naruto smiled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke threw an unamused glance at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto ran up to hug Sasuke from beside “You have no idea how happy I am now Sauke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke saw the blonde nuzzle his face in his bruised neck from the corner of his eye, Naruto really did look like he was ready to burst at the seams with joy, quite truthfully, Sasuke still had a hard time accepting that he was the cause of it. Sasuke only let out a soft sigh and allowed the blonde to continue his affectionate actions </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two woke up earlier that day, tired wasn’t even the right word. They went through an intense argument, confessions of love were made, they went through their ultimate battle, and had very passionate sex. The boys went through another set of tough challenges and emotional trials, yet again, they persevered, this time stronger and more connected than before. Sasuke had woken up first, his body had refused to corporate in the beginning, can you blame him, he was hit from a combination attack of the Rasengan and Chidori and was fucked twice by a very enthusiastic blonde. The sleep helped him recover but he still carried a soreness to him, which he tried to ease with a shower, </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and a nice fresh set of untorn clothes. Naruto remained knocked out for a while longer, although when he woke up he immediately sought out the raven. Sasuke had to fight off the blonde in his continued attempts to romance him. When Naruto had a chance to freshen himself up and eat, he refused to leave Sasuke’s side, he had a happy look to him every second. Sasuke was just so tired, but he also had a light feeling himself, having known they now had this mutual feeling of love between them</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys were currently outside, it was dark out and stars littered the sky, although the terrain around them still had clear signs of a battle having gone down. The two now stood in each other’s arms, just remembering how so much has changed with the utterance of three words</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should probably go back to the village” Sasuke said  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto removed his face from the pale neck </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Really Sasuke?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not trying to kick you out, it proved to be pointless after all this time…” Sasuke muttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Told ya!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just worried about the village being suspicious about your absence. I’m also scared that our fight might have been scene” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto hummed, but then his eyes snapped open, suddenly remembering the other chaos he had going in his life. He let go of raven and turned around him around</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SASUKE I HAVE TO TELL YOU SO MANY THINGS” Naruto exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know about my chakra being in the sample. Kakashi told me, that’s why I left remember” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh….now that kinda makes sense…..” Naruto said “BUT THAT’S NOT ALL. GAARA WAS ATTACKED AND HIS MEMORY WAS ERASED WITH A UNKNOWN MIND JUTSU” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes widened at the sudden rush of information thrown at him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah woah, Gaara was attacked in Konoha? And his memory was hindered?” Sasuke repeated in shock </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes! We found Gaara passed out and he lost his memory. Ino couldn’t retrieve all his memories that were lost because there was a special jutsu that requires a whole ritual and the mastery of a Yamanaka clan jutsu” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stayed silent for a while, and here he thought his burdens were slightly lifted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was supposed to watch over Gaara, but I uh...had other things to do” Naruto chuckled nervously </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is why you have to go back, you’re needed” Sasuke says as he crossed his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So are you, we started this thing together” Naruto answered back “Now you’re even more involved! Your chakra is in that mess with mine” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only looked at the blonde “Okay then, let’s try and figure something out, that way you can say the reason you were out of the village was for a good reason” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, let’s get everything we know and put it together” Naruto said finally letting go of the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So both of our chakras are with the strange chakra?” </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now we need to figure out how and why” Sasuke sated </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade said yours could have been taken when you shared it during the war with everyone. But then how could someone take mine? Unlike you, I actually know how to guard my chakra…” Sasuke thought out loud, Naruto grumbled at that last part </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regardless the two boys thought hard of the possibilities </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How can our chakras mix anyway?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a good question. I think we’ve only done it when we combined Karuma and Susanoo, sealed Kaguya, and released everyone from the tree” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That makes sense. Do you think there’s another way to do it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s try it right now” Naruto said as he began to concentrate some chakra in his hand, careful not to push it to where it took on a Jutsu or Rasengan </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was hesitant of the idea at first but figured they really had no other options, he did the same action and focused his own chakra in his hand. The two pressed their fingers to each other, a small spark and burst of energy resulted from the touch </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They pulled back their fingers and waved it off frantically at the burn</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s as expected” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah….then how did someone manage to swipe yours then mix it with mine without getting the usual explosion” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I supposed it wouldn’t be too wild to assume that when we released everyone from their dreams, someone got our chakra from there. Or maybe with the big explosion that sealed Kaguya” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey that makes total sense!” Naruto smiled, but it quickly faltered “But even so, it would still cause a reaction that we would have to notice” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s right…” Sasuke walked forward a little bit, trying to think about this more. He felt like they were there, so close to the answer but something was missing  “Didn’t Orochimaru say there needed to be a third chakra to balance them out, with an amplifier?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that’s right! Then that must be it, the third chakra is a neutral one that can put our two chakras in check” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What could it be? What are we missing, something completely different to combine these two” Sasuke thought to himself, repeating the information given to them by the snake sanin</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto closed his eyes to think again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto the rocks and flowers…” Sasuke said suddenly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto kept his eyes close, listening to the raven to continue with his sudden claim </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what started this whole mess. You sensed strong and strange chakra from them, you said they felt familiar but they were new. And according to that book, the reason you feel that way is because you’ve either come across it or are connected to it. It’s true! You felt connected to it because it’s our charka, then it felt familiar because someone who already had our chakras must have come across it when they first came to collect it. Those rocks and flowers must have some special chakra to them and that’s why they looked so dry and dead because the chakra was taken out and used as that third balancing one needed to combine all ours” Sasuke explained </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes opened slowly “Sasuke….you figured it out. It all makes sense! Right down to the smallest detail. You’re a genius!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now we just need to figure out what the amplifier is” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s something used to project and amplify chakra? Or even capture chakra at that rate?” Sasuke asked out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Capture chakra...where have I heard that before…” Naruto thought, suddenly a thought popped into his mind</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My necklace Sasuke. The one I won from Grandma Tsunade”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I had a necklace that I won from Grandma Tsunade and it had the ability to either amplify or capture Karuma’s chakra when it was still unstable!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Good times</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Kuruma said from inside their domain, napping since he lent a helping hand to his promiscuous host last night </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you still have it?” Sasuke asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well no I broke it….” Naruto said “But I’m sure Grandma Tsunade has another one! Or at least knows where we could find more!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose that’s a strong possibility for an amplifier, and we know it reacts well with your chakra. But mines...I can’t believe I let it slip out of me like that” Sasuke trailed off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto held his hand out, signaling he wanted Sasuke’s, Sasuke looked at him confused a bit, but nonetheless gave him his pale hand. Naruto brought it closer to him and kissed the knuckles. Sasuke immediately blushed, still trying to get used to the fact that Naruto was bombarding him with these intimate touches more often and with less anger </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ya know some teme told me one time that we can’t jump to conclusions with little information” Naruto said with a smile </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a small chuckle, remembering he said those exact words when Naruto was blaming himself when they first found his chakra </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They sound like a very wise and intelligent person” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sometimes. They also have to go through a fight to admit their true feelings”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke batched his hand back and huffed, Naruto laughed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well now we have a pretty good theory on how our chakras were caught and how they were mixed. We also have a good idea of what the possible amplifier could be. You should take this to Kakashi and see if there are any new developments that boost or hinder our theories” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah we do, finally it’s all starting….to….</span>
  <em>
    <span>wait</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto paused </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When Kakashi-sensei, Grandma Tsunade, Sakura, and the lab shinobi reported the chakra, they said it was four chakras” Naruto started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Four? There’s mine, yours, the flower and rocks, and…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They were missing one </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke there’s still one more” Naruto frowned </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell? Is that even possible? Orochimaru only said this combination was done with 3 total chakras” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone said 4. Grandma Tsunade even used this super special chakra scroll that knows everyone’s chakra, that’s how she was able to confirm that those were our chakras in the mix. But...this one remained unidentifiable”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A special scroll huh? What was in it?” The raven asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She said the chakra of every person to exist since the beginning of time” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Person? So maybe this fourth chakra is from some unliving or non-human source. Maybe those monsters….” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Could be” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does anyone else have access to this scroll?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope. It’s super sacred and only a prime kunoichi like Grandma Tsunade is allowed to have and guard it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see…” Sasuke stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can’t forget Gaara’s attack too” Naruto prompted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yes, there’s that. In order for someone like Gaara to be attacked right in front of Konoha like that has to be skilled in genjutsu and sneaking, have incredible skills and speed, and had the ability to hinder one’s mind” Sasuke listed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When you say it like that you make it sound like we did it...” Naruto muttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well when the attacked happened you, Kakashi, and I were here at the hideout” Sasuke pointed out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeahhhhh, but I still feel bad. You would think someone managed to do something before it happened, he came over here to deliver the report” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He finally completed it?” Sasuke asked, voice a little hopeful</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah but it was stolen from him when he was attacked, then someone placed a mind Jutsu to make him forget about what was in the report and who his attacker was”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke brought a hand to his head, </span>
  <em>
    <span>great now he was beginning to get a headache from thinking about this </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Obviously the attacker knew that Gaara was coming with this report and didn’t want anything to surface. We can assume that this person is also responsible for all the other monster attacks, managed to get our chakra, and could be the possible fourth chakra we’re missing” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit Sasuke! Of course, it’s all tied together, I knew it!” Naruto said “Finally we have solid answers”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you go ask Lady Tsunade who or where one get this necklace, you’ll probably find the person”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll do that right now. We spent enough time away from this, we have to jump right back into action” Naruto said with determination </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wish you the best of luck” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave the raven a look “Sasuke you have to come back to the village”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, you know I can’t. This isn’t about you anymore, this is about respecting the village and not wanting to cause chaos with my criminal status” Sasuke replied </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look we went over this already. I’ll respect what you say later, but this is urgent. You have to relay your findings to Kakashi and Lady Tsunade. It’s night right now and by the time we get back, it’ll be late too. I’ll help you stay hidden but I really need you to come back. Please” Naruto pleaded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a soft sigh, he really felt uneasy about going back to the village, but he supposed after everything he made Naruto go through, and given the weight of this problem, he would go</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s in and out okay?” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke barely had time to respond when Naruto crashed his lips into his, smiling through the kiss</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two made their way to the village, just as they had predicted given their distance, it was late and dark. The two boys skillfully snuck into the village, adorned in cloaks and hiding their chakra so they wouldn’t be caught. They walked side by side, although Sasuke kept his head down, not wanting to be seen or look at the village </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he stopped when he heard that the blonde's footsteps had come to a sudden halt. Reluctantly, Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto squinting his eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You need to see something?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I could have sworn I saw something sparkle blue. Call me crazy but it looked just like the necklace I was telling you about earlier...that can’t be a coincidence” Naruto said quietly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke activated his Sharingan to look at the darkness more clearly, he saw a sparkle slowly being raised, he froze </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto walked closer to see the sight he thought he imagined. However, it was real, he too stopped dead in his tracks at the sight they both saw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata’s small figure slowly became illuminated by the moonlight, smiling with her Byakugan activated as she put the necklace around her neck </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sooooooooo Hinata huh.....wowwwwwww🧍🏻♀️👀</p><p>things coming together yall I-</p><p>ALSO I GOT MY VACCINE TODAY, my arm ✨hurts✨ but the shot itself wasn't painful. AND I SAW DEMON SLAYER YALL OHHHHH MYYYYY GOOODDDDD THAT MOVIE WAS SO GOOD BRUH NO FUCKING CAP LIKE 10000/10, WOW I LOVED IT CUZ DEMON SLAYER IS REALLY MY SECOND ALL-TIME ANIME EVER NOW</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Chapter 42</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ino gave out a shaky sigh, her nerves absolutely on edge </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright Gaara? Comfortable?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I am ready for you to proceed” Gaara told the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The redhead sat cross-legged in the center of the room, sitting on top of a seal. Ino nodded to her fellow Yamanaka shinobi, they weaved their signs at her discretion and flowed their chakras and mind directly into both Gaara and the seal. The seal underneath them began to glow</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara!” Lee gasped, stretching his arm out to touch his boyfriend. Sai placed a firm hand on Lee’s shoulder to prevent him from entering the strong chakra field, although he had his own concerns </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino...are you sure you can do this?” Sai asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course she can, she is the leader of the Yamanaka clan now. She had been practicing this Jutsu to absolute perfection” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino gave her lifelong teammate a small smile as he gave her his trust, if anyone was the levelheaded one right now, it was Shikamaru </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde let out one last sigh, she had to pull herself together. A lot of answers were to come from this, she could not afford to mess up. She focused her chakra on her hands and mind, she walked closer to Gaara. Although in his usual stoic manner, Gaara swallowed nervously as Ino’s hand hovered over his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ease your mind Gaara, let me into your inner conscious” Ino said quietly, still focused </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Kazekage closed his eyes, Ino pressed her chakra into his head. Suddenly, she found herself floating inside Gaara’s mind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, I did it, I’m in” Ino said inside Gaara’s mind  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked around, she could see that both the Kazekage’s minds and consciousness were very guarded, no doubt to Gaara’s tough past. However, Ino wasn’t here to explore, she had one goal and she saw it as she approached Gaara’s memories section of his mind. There in fact was a strange seal on it, it must be the one that was preventing Gaara from remembering the full details of his attack. Ino had never seen it before and she felt how powerful, that didn’t matter, her newly mastered jutsu allowed her to break through any seal to read one’s memories. She was the heir of the Yamanaka clan, she wouldn’t let the legacy of her father die in vain, they were in another high-profile situation again. She floated closer to the seal, placing both her hands on it, directly flowing chakra. Ino gave an initial gasp as the seal rejected her chakra at first, Ino furrowed her eyebrows in concentration and determination. She continued to focus chakra on the seal, starting to sweat at the intensity of it. The seal was strong, Ino would admit but she wasn’t going to give up. She grunted, now pushing chakra harder against the seal, it was beginning to crack. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Back outside, a spaced-out and blank Gaara flinched at the action of the seal beginning to break</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gaara!” Lee tried to go out to touch the redhead again, Sai held onto the bowl-cut boy harder, they couldn’t risk anything that could ruin this </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sai looked at both Ino and the fellow shinobi who also look like they were struggling a bit. Yet Ino’s body remained perfectly skill, beautiful in the gleaming chakra with her eyes closed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s doing it” Sai said to Shikamaru </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding “I knew she would” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Inside the Kazekage’s mind, Ino was pushing out the maxim amount of chakra she could, the seal has slowly beginning to come undone. Sweat running down her head, teeth gritted, and body and mind burning from the release of chakra. Finally, the seal had broken and faded away from Gaara’s closed-off memories. Ino stopped her chakra flow, panting a bit and trying to regain herself, this process was a hard one yet she managed to break the seal. Once she composed herself, she looked into the memories that had previously been sealed. She did her own quick hand signs</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Memory Retrieval Jutsu!”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She placed a hand against the memories, her eyes snapped opened, she let out a loud gasp as the Kazekage’s memories of his attack and report flooded through her own mind. When she had seen the completion of his memories, she had released herself from the jutsu. Back in reality, Ino returned to her body, she began to fall over, Sai let go of Lee and promptly went to catch Ino before she could fall on the floor. Shikamaru ran over to make sure she was alright </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara opened his eyes and instantly let out a cry of pain, his hands going to his aching head</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee ran over to Gaara, enclosing the pained man in his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright my love? Is it your head?” Lee asked frantically </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes” Gaara managed to say </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino, are you with us? Everything alright?” Sai asked the blonde in his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino? Talk to us Ino are you okay?” Shikamaru asked with concern, he placed a hand on Ino’s head, it felt hot to the touch. He turned to look at the other shinobi who were assisting Ino in providing chakra to break the seal, they too were panting hard and trying to recover from overworking their mind and chakra</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino weakly pushed herself up with the help of Sai, she slowly turned to look at Gaara </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kazakage, is your mind okay? Can you remember?” Ino asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara’s managed to compose himself, his head pounded fast from the headache he got, but his eyes slowly widened, he looked to Lee then at the three other shinobi, he nodded his head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino you did it! You broke the seal. Gaara can remember, oh god I was beginning to think this was going to be such a drag” Shikamaru said with a smile, although it quickly faltered when he noticed how much Ino began to shake </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino?” Sai asked, his usually monotone voice shifting to something with fear </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“.....What did you see Ino?” Shikamaru said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino looked to them, fear and dread painfully obvious in her eyes. She began to talk, the entire room fell into a deathly silence as Ino spoke what she saw </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It….I-It was her….”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***************** </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Sasuke stood still as they watched the purple-haired girl delicately place the blue crystal around her neck, smiling sweetly as it sparkled against the moonlight </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-Hinata…” Naruto said in a whisper. Although it could barely be heard as the loud sound of Sasuke’s drawing his sword from his sheath filled his ears</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>SASUKE WAIT-</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata heard Naruto’s cry and managed to move out the way as she barely saw Sasuke’s sword striking her down. She fell to the floor with a gasp, Sasuke regripped his sword quickly and pointed the end right down on the girl, he plunged it forward, Hinata closed her eyes and waited for impact. However, once she opened her eyes she saw the very tip of the sharp metal just mere centimeters from her throat. Her eyes made their way upwards as she saw a very scary looking Sasuke, although his arm that held the sword was held back by Naruto</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Let go Naruto.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke said darkly, frightening eyes never leaving Hinata</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can’t just kill her, what’s wrong with you?” Naruto snapped</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-What’s happening?” Hinata’s quivering voice called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes trailed down to where the crystal laid on her neck </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Naruto said to the raven, still shocked that Sasuke would act so hastily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that the necklace?” Sasuke repeated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto saw it as clear as day “....Yeah” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke once again tried to push his sword forward, Hinata let out a squeal, however, Naruto’s iron grip on Sasuke’s arm had once again prevented the sword from making contact with the girl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dammit Sasuke, wait!” Naruto said at the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hinata is everything al-</span>
  <em>
    <span>woah what the fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Kiba said as he suddenly emerged, this captured the attention of Sasuke who now pointed his sword at Kiba. Kiba froze as the lethal weapon was hitting him square in the middle of his chest</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto snatched the sword away from Sasuke and forced it back into its sheath. Sasuke now narrowed his eyes dangerously at the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke we have to talk before we can start fighting ya know” Naruto scolded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiba once again turned to look at his teammate who was shaking on the ground, he dropped to his knees to take Hinata, Hinata immediately pushed herself into his embrace </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that you Naruto? And Sasuke? Were you guys planning on killing Hinata?” Kiba barked angrily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No! We weren’t planning on killing her! However, she is now a prime suspect for a crime that has taken place” Naruto said evenly, Sasuke still watching the two shinobi carefully </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A-A crime?” Hinata stuttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not possible. I was with her the whole day, in fact, I was just throwing something away and left Hinata here alone for a quick second. Trust me she hasn’t done anything” Kiba argued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It didn’t happen today, listen Hinata we need you to come with us” Naruto said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But why Naruto-kun? I haven’t done anything!” Hinata pleads </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes once again fell on the crystal necklace, he looked to the side and tightened his fist, he really didn’t want to believe a comrade like Hinata was the mastermind behind this whole situation. Sasuke only stayed silent, remaining by Naruto’s side for further action </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We need to take you to the Hokage’s office immediately” Naruto said, still refusing to look into the girl’s eyes </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto you can’t just do this! What gives you the authority? With Sasuke, are you two planning something” Kiba growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto now looked at the two, eye strong with something dark, he hated when anyone referred to Sasuke as this cold-blooded criminal. Kiba jerked his head back at the sight, Naruto looking furious while Sasuke stood behind him with the same unnerving look with those to miscolored orbs. He forgot Sasuke was still a sensitive subject </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re taking her in under the Hokage’s order for this crime” Naruto said again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Absolutely no-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kiba it’s okay. I’ll go with them, I’ll cooperate because I know I’m innocent. I have no reason to hide” Hinata said cutting off the animal lover, she held her hands out. Naruto took them and tied them together </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I’m going with her” Kiba said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry Kiba, this is highly classified” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>I don’t car-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He said this is confidential. Meaning you can’t go. End of discussion” Sasuke said coldly, once again cutting off the brown-haired boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiba gave a startled noise at the coldness from the raven, Sasuke was a wild beast that even he couldn’t tame. Kiba looked at Hinata, Hinata gave him a small smile </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be fine Kiba” Hinata reassured </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiba gave an angry scoff “Come to me as soon as they clear you please” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata nodded, Naruto nodded at him as well. Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke soon began to make their way to the Hokage’s office. Despite it being evening, they had a strong feeling that the white-haired Hokage would be in his office. When they arrived, Sasuke opened the door boldly and walked inside. Soon after Naruto walked in, Hinata with her hands tied behind her back in front of him, her purple eyes casted downwards</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is the meaning of this?” Kakashi said as he rose from his desk, Lady Tsunade happened to be there and turned her attention to the three young shinobi who had walked in</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi we have suspicion and basis to believe that Hinata is responsible for the chakra monsters and Gaara’s attack” Sasuke announced </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This shocking announcement drew a gasp from the older shinobi, both of them rushing over to where the girl was</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hinata? What….” Kakashi struggled to get out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you have her tied up? The poor girl looks startled to death, untie her this instant” Lady Tsunade demanded </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto hesitated for a second, but he figured that if Hinata tried to do something, she would be no match for the four shinobi in the room. He went to remove the restraint, Hinata let out a small sigh of relief, although her scared expression returned when she remembered the situation she was in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay now the both of you, what have you’ve done? And Sasuke what in the world are you doing back in the village?” The Sixth Hokage asked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can explain it all but first-” Naruto started but was cut off when Sasuke stood in front of him, facing both the current and former Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The necklace she has on is the amplifier element in the chakra. Her chakra is also one of the chakras that are in the samples” Sasuke stated </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s eyes widened, he now focused on the timid girl in front of them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hinata...is this true?” Kakashi asked her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata tried to open her mouth and speak, but no words came from her mouth, instead, she returned her gaze downward </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘’We have theories Kakashi-sensei, ones built on evidence that finally answers all the questions” Naruto said, moving up to stand by Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsunade narrowed her eyes and pointed to Hinata’s neck “That necklace looks just like the one I had” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded “Exactly!’ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But how did you get it Hinata? The only other person I gave a person necklace to like that―” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“LORD SIXTH IT―”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouts were heard as suddenly Ino and Shikamaru busted in the Hokages doors, yelling something at the same time Lady Tsunade was speaking, statements becoming unison  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“―was Sakura” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“―WAS SAKURA”  </span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sheeeeshhhhhh😬</p><p>ALSO SHOUTOUT TO EVERYONE WHOSE THEORIES WERE MISS SAKURA, YALL KNOW WHO YALL ARE 🤪🤝✨</p><p>you guys I know I like to stir shit up and mess with you, BUT WE NOT DONE YET 🤠</p><p>so yeah its the day after my vaccine and yall....I really was going through it 😭 on god my arm felt like it was dead weight, I was hot and I just got a POUNDING headache, I stayed in bed all day bro💀 I mean I watched more Boruto and RDCworld gaming videos, but i really spent the whole day tryna sweat this out and was out of itttttt😭 but it was the expected side effects AND BY NO MEANS AM I DISCOURAGING THE VACCINE, YALL BETTER GO TAKE IT🔫🤍 i aint a bitch, ill survive, but these effects beating my mf ass up 😭 so i took some Tylenol and im finna KO😌 </p><p>comment &amp; kudos ♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The room fell quiet, all the shinobi in the room looking at each other. No one dared to speak, the single name was enough to stun everyone into silence</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi slowly raised his eyes to meet Lady Tsunade’s</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who did you say you gave the necklace to?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I….I gave it to Sakura….” Tsunade stuttered, her own eyes growing in size</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi then turned to look at Ino and Shikamaru, Ino held on to Shikamaru’s arm, the two teammates looking just as dumbfounded at the Fifth Hokage’s words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you two said it was who?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“........Sakura” Ino whispered to the Hokage</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Sasuke let out a shocked sound, Naruto was physically taken so much that he bumped into Sasuke, Sasuke remained as still as a statue, even he never saw this coming </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi placed a hand to steady himself on his desk</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata stood there, extremely confused as to why everyone was reacting to this at the mention of her good friend, yet she didn’t dare to say anything given the current position she was in </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still hunched over his desk, Kakashi called out behind him “Ino, what did you see in the Kazekage’s memories?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I….it….Sakura…” Ino struggled, her hand on Shikamru’s arm tightened, Shikamaru only closed his eyes, his mind was currently in overload </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino took a deep breath and composed herself, she had an obligation to report this critical information, no matter how personal this was </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Gaara was on his way to the village. First off, as he was walking towards the village, he took a look into the report he was carrying one final time. Inside the report, he found that the only clear chakra distinction they made was Sakura’s, given the last time Sakura was in the Sand Village was to create that antidote for the poison in Kankuro. As custom in any medical environment, one’s chakra must be stored in its records, no matter who or where they’re from. Since Sakura’s was stored from that event, they were able to cross-reference the sample and it came up to a match with Sakuras. As Gaara was approaching the village, Sakura sprung out and attacked him, taking him down unguarded with her sheer strength. Then when the Kazekage was down, she pulled out some scroll and infused it with chakra, she then did hand signs and touched Gaara’s head, that is how she erased his memories and placed the seal inside his mind to block out these memories” Ino finished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...cannot believe this. My student……” Lady Tsunade gasped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura-chan…” Naruto said breathlessly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What were you two saying about this necklace and Hinata’s involvement” Kakashi now asked his own two students</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only tightened his fist, despite his initial shock, Sasuke shook himself out of it and looked straight at Kakashi’s back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Since we know that Naruto and my chakra were in the sample, we realized that this had to be taken during a time we were both infusing it. We concluded it was sometime during the war, however, our chakra is unstable when combined plainly like that. That’s where that third neutral chakra would come, which we determined came from the rock and flowers, they are the source of the original strange chakra. Then in order to make that chakra stronger and capture it, some sort of amplifier was needed, as we were informed. Naruto said the only thing strong enough to capture and amplify his chakra was the crystal Tsunade had given him, and since my chakra is just as powerful as Naruto’s, it was safe to assume it could the same with mine. Also, since there were a total of four chakras found and we figured out three, we believed the fourth chakra had to belong to whoever had the necklace. We had come to the village and planned to ask Lady Tsunade where or how we could find another necklace like that, but we saw Hinata put on the necklace” Sasuke spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Explain yourself immediately Hinata” Kakashi said in a low tone, this caused the already on-edge girl to let out a small yelp, but she had to answer the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-well I-I was out with Kiba-kun, a-and he had departed from me quickly to throw something away. A-As I was waiting for him, I saw something glitter from the ground. I saw it was a crystal necklace with my Byakugan and it was p-pretty, a-and it reminded me of the one N-Naruto used to have. So I picked it up and placed it around my neck, t-then Sasuke appeared with Naruto and apprehended me” Hinata stuttered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room was listening to the multiple stories being told, Shikamaru stepped forward, Ino still closeby, taking in all the developing news</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lord Sixth, allow me to say my final theory. After hearing what everyone had to say and putting all the information together, I think I have the full story” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi gave a curt nod at the brilliant boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Starting from the very beginning, Sakura was first able to acquire Naruto and Sasuke’s chakra was indeed from the war, more specifically when she was protected by both Kuruma’s and Sasunoo’s chakra. She captured and stored it using the same crystal necklace her mentor Lady Tsunade had given her. Once she had those two chakras, she knew immediately that barely managing to contain those two with the crystal was soon to fail, so she needed that third neutral chakra. The flowers and rocks are a rare chakra-filled plant used by Kunoichis, they are said to have immense natural-energy-based chakra and are hidden in all types of terrains for Kunoichis to use when they have no other options for medical Jutsu. Sakura had done research on these rocks and flowers and managed to find them here in the forest just outside the outskirts of the village. When we ran tests on trying to find the other chakras, you put her in charge which would make it easy for her to throw off any suspicion off her and change the results. And when Lady Tsunade ran her chakra scroll, it’s plausible to assume Sakura knew where the scroll was and managed to get it to erase her own chakra from it since she too is a prime Kunoichi. Once she had all these, she was able to infuse and combine these chakras to create a powerful chakra to fuel the chakra monsters, since a scroll on chakra-created monsters was stolen from the Leaf’s archives. Sakura somehow knew that the Kazekage managed to get a sample as well and realized eventually Lord Gaara would come bearing the report, since she now had both Naruto’s and Sasuke’s chakra in her, she was able to sense the Kazekage and attacked. Even she had prepared for the worst, in my best opinion, she did more research on powerful mind-blocking jutsus. I noticed that another forbidden jutsu scroll was missing from the Leaf’s archives regarding mind jutsu, again she now had the combined powerful chakra of hers, Naruto’s, and Sasuke, with the correct hand signs and plentiful chakra, Sakura successfully cleared and sealed Gaara’s memories. When she noticed things were beginning to get close, she most likely ditched the necklace and was going to let whoever picked it up take the blame. No one has seen her in the last 24 hours...we can assume she’s on the run and expected us to reach the truth eventually” Shikamaru explained   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Sixth Hokage finally pushed himself off the desk and faced the room, all the shinobi were at a complete loss for words. How could one of their own, one of Konoha’s most loyal ninja be responsible for this catastrophe</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But why…” Naruto finally spoke up “....why would she do something like this?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru sighed “Beleive me, I’ve wracked my brain over this, but even I don’t the answer to that. This is completely out of character for her. I can’t even say she was coerced or forced to do this, this required so much premeditating that she is just….guilty”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“To think the mastermind behind all this was was right under our noses. She was involved with us from the very start and appeared to be so keen on helping us. But it was a skillful act she put on just so she wouldn’t get caught and perfectly clean her tracks” Kakashi said out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...I need a drink” Lady Tsunade said as she began to stumble </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tsunade!” Ino and Hinata cried out in unison, rushing over to attend to the extremely shocked Kunoichi. It is to her shock that her own student, who she treated as her pride and joy would do such heinous acts against the village and to the Kazekage. Even using the precious gift of the crystal for crime, it was too much for even a strongwilled woman like her to handle, this was her protegee after all </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Tusande take a seat at my desk, please rest up, now is the time where we need everyone to be in the right state of mind” Kakashi said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two young girls nodded and escorted the older woman to rest on the chair, attending to her as needed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a shaky sigh. His own student, the most level-headed one, the shy, quiet, yet strong young ninja he had watched grow was responsible for this chaos. This brought his own unpleasant memories, Sasuke was another student who had done indescribable acts to the village. Yet here he was, ways completely changed and paying for his crimes. But Sakura, he never expected this from Sakura, never from her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ino and Shikamaru, I thank you very much for all your hard work and the information you brought to us. You gave us crucial evidence and an explanation that finally gives us the answer we needed to finally solve this” Kakashi started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino and Shimakru nodded their heads, they didn’t say anything, they couldn’t say anything, this was their old beloved friend, but now she was the biggest threat to the village and they had bared witness to that</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hinata, I am really sorry these boys dragged you in and we wrongfully misjudged you for being responsible for these crimes” Kakashi told the purple-haired girl, he looked sternly at said boys </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re really sorry Hinata, we acted hastily and were just on edge” Naruto said genuinely, Sasuke remained quiet, he looked at Hinata with a blank face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s q-quite alright Naruto-kun. I forgive you both” Hinata smiled softly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto responded with a small smile on his own, but he quickly returned to a serious mode when he looked at the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei what are we supposed to do? This is Sakura, a member of team 7, and now she’s a rogue ninja?” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am well aware of that I just….</span>
  <em>
    <span>not again</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Kakashi whispered that last part to himself</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Sasuke heard it and looked down and clenched his jaw, once again his presence and actions brought up bad memories. He had almost forgotten he was in the Hidden Leaf Village again, and people were around him. Although they didn’t seem to notice him given the circumstance, still this put Sasuke very much on edge. Naruto noticed the slight shift in attitude, he stood closer to Sasuke and intertwined their fingers. Sasuke snapped his head to look at Naruto, Naruto returned to him a face that was nothing but pure comfort to Sasuke. Sasuke blushed at the small affectionate gesture as it was done in public, nonetheless, the boys stood hand in hand and looked at the Hokage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone was now taken off guard at the site of the former bitter rivals holding hands, now that was definitely something new to them. Kakashi mainly was the one who was confused at the two, but he quickly figured that Sasuke must have felt the same way as the love-struck blonde. He would definitely have to get the details on that later, but right now they were focusing on gathering the other member of team 7.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, we finally have the person behind all this. We have to take action immediately, this is a code red level mission. Keep this absolutely a secret from citizens and outside shinobi. The main goal for everyone is to protect the village and keep an eye out for Sakura. Lady Tsunade please stay here and watch over the village in my place, you are also to keep in communications with anyone involved. Shikamaru you are to work as Lady Tsunade’s right-hand man, traffic and maintain any new information. Ino please attend to Gaara’s and contact Sai immediately to dispatch the police force to guard over the village and to be on the lookout for Sakura. Hinata please go back home and stay put, we aren’t sure if you are a continued threat under Sakura ” Kakashi explained carefully  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All the shinobi nodded their hands at their assigned roles from the Hokage’s order. Kakashi then turned to his two prized students, who were still holding on to each other’s hand</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two are coming with me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we being shinobi or personal with this Kakashi?” Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes, Kakashi could see something dangerous in them, Naruto could too </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-Sensei….what are we going to do?” Naruto swallowed hardly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re going to hunt her down and capture her...alive” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If 2+2=4 and 5+5 =10......what the fuck is this 🙃</p><p>i told yall things are getting REAL crazy rnnnn....ooof🤭</p><p>also again special shoutout to my reader Jassi, your theory was really on point I thought you hacked my computer or something LMFAOOOOO Im just playing BUT YOU WAS RIGHT ON IT BABE KUDOS TO YOU ✨♥️</p><p>now lemme hear yalls theories on why? 🤔</p><p>ALSO THANKS FOR THE LOVE GUYS I FEEL MUCH BETTER TODAY, YA GIRL IS ALIVE AND WELL🥰</p><p>comment &amp; kudos 😚</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Chapter 44</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The three shinobi stood on top of the Konoha Gates, looking ahead of them intensely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m leaving the security of the village in your hands Sai” Kakashi said high above the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sai gave him a salute “I will not let you down Lord Sixth” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi turned to his two boys “Are you two ready?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll have a hard time complying with the alive part” Sasuke said coldly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke…” Kakashi said in a warning tone </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a small scoff, angry wasn’t the right word to describe how he felt about their current target. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rage? Fury? Livid? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Those didn’t even come close</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke was feeling murderous and wrathful </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This girl, Sakura, who was been a pester in his life for as long as he can remember, had done something horrible. She created monsters that attacked them, cause mayhem in the villages, attacked the Kazekage, and erased his memories. Sasuke seethed at the fact that she stole a piece of his and Naruto’s most powerful chakra when they were in the middle of trying to save her and the world. But what pissed off the Uchiha the most, was the pain and trying thoughts she was currently putting Naruto through</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only continued to look out into the horizon, it had hurt him, he was going through so much inner conflict. Sakura was one of his best friends, sure they may not have had the greatest dynamic, but they were together. Naruto looked at a specific spot by the gate, that was where Sakura had made Naruto promise her that he would bring Sasuke back. Naruto did complete that promise, he looked beside him, he could sense the angry chakra circulating the raven. He can’t believe Sakura of all people would be responsible for this, Sakura had always been the glue that held this team together, now she had completely gone off the rails and rogue. It reminded him of what Sasuke did….. but why? For what reason? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get going, we have no idea where she could be, or who she could be with. Stay alert, Sakura is considered highly dangerous right now. We’ll head North and keep a straight path until Naruto can sense her or the powerful chakra. Sasuke I expect you to keep an eye out for our surroundings and any sneak attacks using your Sharingan or Rinnegan. I’ll take the lead and take out any threats we may encounter, you two are not to act alone or on your own accord. You move based on my word, understood?” Kakashi said sternly, they both were reminded of their genin days, how bittersweet that team 7 was reunited and they were hunting their own member again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a curt nod, Naruto hummed weakly, still unhappy with the thought of having to hunt down Sakura. Sasuke noticed this and felt he should do something to cheer the blonde up before they went on their dangerous mission. Sasuke looked away but held his hand out, Naruto noticed this immediately put his tan hand with the pale one. Still refusing to meet the eyes of Naruto, he pulled the blonde’s hand closer to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss on top of the warm skin. Naruto gave a soft gasp at the gesture, Sasuke didn’t face him but he knew the emotion Sasuke tried to convey through this small action. Naruto couldn’t help but give a small smile, he squeezed Sasuke’s hand. Naruto had brought Sasuke back, they had worked things out and came back stronger as they stood hand in hand, being Konoha’s greatest protectors </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two are dating now aren’t you?” Kakashi said breaking both of them out of their little moment </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No” Sasuke said quickly, this is why he turned his face away, the blush he had on from doing the intimate gesture only grew </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-we’re not Kakashi-sensei” Naruto said, his own blush forming on his face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi let out an exasperated sigh “I can never keep up with you two” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys promptly let go of their hands, face on fire from the Hokage’s treatment</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, we move now” and with that, the three males launched themselves into the forest, their mission to hunt down the rogue kunoichi had officially begun. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They jumped through trees and branches, the wind blowing hard on their faces as they made their way with a top speed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Any idea on where she might be?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shikamaru said she couldn’t have got too far if she just went on the run yesterday, he said she would probably somewhere between village borders” Kakashi answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you’ve sensed anything Naruto?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope, nothing but our own chakras” Naruto replied to the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave an irritated sigh, teeth gritting at the lack of process. Naruto jaw clench each at the same thought, the two boys practically radiated anger and hurt </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember, despite this being somewhat a personal matter, we have to act like shinobi and leave aside our feelings” Kakashi said sternly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easier said than done” Naruto grumbled, Sasuke only had that look in his eye that meant trouble </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi knew that these boys were the best ninjas there was, they were the best of the best and could handle any situation. However, he got nervous when it came to this specific situation. They were amped up by this being a mission that involved one of their own, and if any one of them were to suddenly snap and act irrationally, the other was sure to follow with the same lethality, and Kakashi would barely have the power to keep them both at bay</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay focused you two” Kakashi opted to say, once again taking the lead and jumping ahead of his boys. They continued to go through the forest when suddenly Naruto halted to a stop, Sasuke and Kakashi noticed immediately and also ceased their movements</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s near.” Sasuke spoke out, already knowing what that look Naruto had on meant </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I sense it, either it’s her or the weird chakra” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay alert, we don’t know what we could be up against. We stop here and wait for her to come to us” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and the Hokage pulled out kunai knives to arm and protect themselves. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and whipped out his sword, gripping it tightly to attack at any moment’s notice. The three ninjas stood back to back, making sure they noticed everything around them. Suddenly Naruto and Sasuke clutched their chest and fell to the ground, gritting out in pain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto? Sasuke?” Kakashi asked as he fell to the ground to help them out. He placed a hand on either of their chests, trying to help soothe whatever they were going through “What’s wrong with you two?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I….feel like my chakra is being...sucked out” Sasuke tried to get out, Naruto helplessly nodded to agreed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your chakra-” Kakashi was cut off when he felt the ground vibrate, the air shaking with something. He looked all around him and he was met with 4 creatures surrounding him. The boys stopped their squirming and with heavy breaths, composed themselves, having felt the commotion approaching </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Those...are the chakra creatures” Sasuke said slowly, still trying to recover whatever the hell they just went through</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought we got rid of those things” Naruto said, shock laced in his voice</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So these are it, I have to hand it to you, you sure had your work cut out for you two” Kakashi said, quickly glancing at his ninjas to make sure they were okay “I’ll take two out, you each get the remaining ones” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi was about to pounce when he felt his arm being held back, it was Sasuke. </span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait Kakashi-sensei there’s are few things you should know about these things. They won’t attack Sasuke, but they come after me directly. They might throw an attack or two at you but will always focus on me. Remember the way we took them down ” Naruto explained</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, so that theory really does exist” Kakashi said turning his attention back to the four monsters </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, new plan. Naruto make some clones and make them go hide up in the trees, when Naruto and I have all these distracted in a single location, throw shuriken at their supposed vital spots with Sasuke’s lightning” Kakashi commanded, the boys nodded their heads </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto did his hand signs and in a flash, three clones appeared by him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yay we get to get with Sasuke!” One blonde clone cried out excitedly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You say that like you’re gonna be the only one with him, this a joint effort ya know” the second Naruto clone threw back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha as if, I’m the one who’s gonna be near Sasuke” the third clone called out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi! You three, now it not the time to be acting like this, you know the plan, now get a move on!” Naruto scolded his clones for their promiscuous behavior at a time like this</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three clones stuck out their tongues at the original and giddily made their way over to Sasuke, the raven only shook his head at the clones being just like their original. The four of them jumped into the trees</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before the monster could notice this movement Kakashi and the real Naruto jumped in front of the monsters to capture their attention. There was a sand, leaf, cloud, and mist monster looking at the two shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Geez why do you bastards have to only hate me” Naruto said, having to go through all this once again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright Naruto, let’s go” Kakashi began to form his hand signs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mud Wall Jutsu!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi put his hands on the ground and they were suddenly enclosed in four walls, Naruto knew exactly what the next phase of their strategy was and he suddenly made four balls of Rasengan appear beside him. He knew he had to throw them to not hit the monsters directly, but make them notice so they could dodge it and be left open for Sasuke’s and his clones to attack</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once the balls had formed Naruto, Naruto jumped high and yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Rasengan!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The balls flew in their respective directions, the monsters had effectively seen them and moved out of their way  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you three stop trying to kiss me! Get off of me and focus, we’re on a serious mission. God you’re just like the real idiot” Sasuke whispered-yelled as he tried to kick the blondes off him. Although, all four of their attentions were quickly caught when they heard the original Naruto shout out his chakra ball attack</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three clones got to their spots and three multiple shurikens with great speed and accuracy at monsters, as they launched through the air, Sasuke quickly drew up his chakra lightning and infused it into the shuriken. The charged metal stars now hit the monsters perfectly, however, at the impact, Sasuke and Naruto felt extremely sharp pains in the same place where the shuriken had hit the creature’s vital spots. Naruto cried out in pain and fell to the floor in agony. The blonde’s clone disappeared and Sasuke let out his own loud grunt as he fell out of the tree due to the intense pain</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke, Naruto? Shit I think those monsters may have gotten your chakra earlier and now you’re powering them and connected with them” Kakashi said as he desperately tried to look between the two agonized boys who were on the floor </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, I’ll just have to seal them myself. Not a problem” Kakashi pulled out four scrolls, each of them unraveling with a strong seal in them. As they flew in the air to each respected monster Kakashi did a hand sign and sent his own chakra out to the seals. The seals lit up and promptly sucked in the creatures entirely </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi let out a breath and made sure the creatures were sealed properly. However, the two boys still laid on the ground withering in pain. Kakashi ran to the closet ninja near him, he drew Naruto quickly on his lap</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto? Can you hear me, how did you get hurt?” Kakashi asked in a rush </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes scrunched in pain</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi then turned to look over his shoulder, Sasuke was grunting in pain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay awake Sasuke, I’m coming” Kakashi called out frantically </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Kakashi was frozen in place when he heard a soft giggle echo in the forest. The two boys seemingly heard it too and pushed through their pain to sit up and try to identify its source</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura we know it’s you, come out and the need for confrontation won’t be necessary” Kakashi shouted out into the emptiness </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then a giggle came out again, and a shadowy figure appeared beside the tree’s, her face is covered by her hair and the darkness by the tress </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you got me, that was faster than I expected. It’s a shame you took out the monsters you powered, that wasn’t a good idea to take out something that was connected with your own chakra” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“S-Sakura…” Naruto called out weakly</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke yelled out in pain but got up and grabbed his sword, he charged it with lightning and began to run towards the pink-haired girl</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke my love, I’m so happy to see you too. This is why I need you to be safe and away for a while” Sakura called out. She held her hand out the glowed with purple chakra and stopped Sasuke midrun, Sasuke immediately knocked out from that motion. Sakura used her outstretched hand to pull Sasuke forward into her arms, she used a free hand to caress the face of the unconscious boy</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My precious Sasuke-kun, we’ll be together soon. I have to take care of a few things” With Sasuke in one arm, she used her free hand, again glowing with the violent chakra to open a portal, gently tossing Sasuke through it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SASUKEEE” Naruto yelled as he saw what had happened, he tried his hardest to forget about the pain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi made a startled sound, since when did Sakura posses these abilities </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry Kakashi-sensei, you’ll have to go too. She used the same hand to create a portal behind Kakashi, and a ball of chakra that became a Rasengan appeared in Sakura’s hand. She threw it at the center of the Hokage’s chest and he was flung back into the portal and was shut closed and vanished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was breathing heavily, both from growing rage and pain </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SAKURA-CHAN SHOW YOURSELF” Naruto seethed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Always pushy Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura stepped into the light, Naruto gasped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smiled at Naruto, fangs and whiskers bold on her face, her eyes resembling those of Sasuke’s </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But you won’t be a problem anymore”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>YESSSIRRRR THINGS ABOUT TO GET REAL CRAZYYYY IM EXCITEDDDD </p><p>yall got some good theories bro NO CAP, I'm wondering how yall gonna react to when we finally get the truth👀</p><p>HOT TOPIC WAS TEMPTING ME AND SENDING ME ALL THIS HOT CASH AND COUPONS LIKE HOW COULD I NOT BUY ANYTHING????? so I bought Naruto earrings, a choker that looks like Itachi's necklace, and an Inosuke &amp; Zenitsu shirt from Demon Slayer, I'm so excited for them to come </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS ♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Chapter 45</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto gave a loud gasp as the pink-haired girl walked closer to where he was on the floor, slowly coming into the light for him to see</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smiled sweetly at the blonde, although her teeth mimicked Naruto’s own sharp fangs and the whiskers were prominent on her cheeks. Despite these similarities with Naruto, she also resembled the Uchiha as both pupils consisted of the two-point Sharingan. Yet a hint of the old Sakura was seen as the Byakugou seal still adorned her forehead. She waved her hand in Naruto’s direction </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto felt the pain that encompassed his body suddenly leave him, he wasted no time in getting back up on his feet, staring intensely at his teammate </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura? Why do you look…..like me….? And how the hell did you manage to get the Sharingan?” Naruto paused as his senses were suddenly filled with something “This chakra...no...your chakra….it’s powerful” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura hummed as she now walked to the center of the forest, standing directly in front of the blonde</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you’ve noticed a couple of things” She said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is this? What have you’ve done Sakura? And where did you make Sasuke and Kakashi go?” Naruto asked angrily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah calm down Naruto” Sakura threw out</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Calm down? How the fuck do you expect me to calm down after all the shit that you’ve done?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I bet you’re awfully confused” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave an angry scowl at that </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well who wouldn’t be? I left the village on the assumption that Shikamaru finally connected all the dots and would have exposed everything. I suppose there are a still few things you might be missing” Sakura shrugged </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pulled out a kunai knife and held it to Sakura’s throat, any excess movement and she would have been cut. The sight pained Naruto, to do this to Sakura of all people, but he had no choice, she was dangerous </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh Naruto, you’re always so quick to act. Push the knife a little harder and I won’t be able to tell you anything” Sakura sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto did not move, his furious glare and strong grip on the knife never wavered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, that’s to be expected. I’m going to assume Shikamaru told the process and all the small details” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Start from the beginning, I want to hear you say what you did. I want to hear the words come out from your mouth” Naruto growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, the least I can do is explain myself” Sakura said, Naruto lowered the kunai knife, although he kept it close to her stomach just in case she tried anything </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm where should I start? Oh right! I’m sure my appearance was quite a surprise to you. Honestly, I didn’t even expect to look like this, especially like you. You see this is what happens when you mix powerful chakra and infuse it in yourself. And by powerful chakra, I mean yours and Sasuke’s. Soooo I got a few of your abilities and looks as a result of your chakras” Sakura started </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto narrowed his eyes as he listened </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you remember during the war when you and Sasuke wrapped Kakashi-sensei and me in the chakra from both Kurama and Sasunoo, if only you could see how this chakra felt to an outsider. It was something so intense and powerful, you don’t come across monumental chakra like this every day. I had to act quickly to grab some of this chakra, only if it was a little. Luckily for me, I had a special gift from Lady Tsunade that allowed me with the perfect vessel to capture and amplify chakra. It was the same necklace she gave you Naruto, and I knew it would be perfect because I remembered how it worked whenever you turned to the nine-tails. I was able to capture both your and Sasuke’s chakra in the necklace and keep it to use at my discretion. What was the use of having such powerful chakra without applying it to yourself? Now I had to figure that out, so I did so much research, my goodness the amount of research I did for all this was incredible! But that’s beside the point, so I figured out how to mix multiple forms of powerful chakra. However I required a third-party chakra to tie everything together, and I remembered from my studying under Lady Tsunade of this rare type of chakra-filled flowers and rocks that Kunoichi would turn to in order to assist them when they were low on medical Jutsu and had to scavage for another source of strong chakra on missions in the wilderness. I was fortunate to find some here close to Konoha and used it to mix yours, Sasukes, and my chakra together and use the necklace to amplify it. When it was all mixed together and loaded into the crystal, I had to do this whole ritual with seals and forbidden jutsus. When you were a part of the famed team 7 and closely connected to the notable figures in Konoha, people don’t even bat an eye when you enter the secret archives and skillfully swipe scrolls that contain forbidden jutsus” The pink-haired girl giggled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways…” Sakura continued “I found a jutsu about how to create and infuse synthetically created chakra into one’s body. Lucky for me I had all the things I needed and I set up the proper rituals and seals to get it done. Once the chakras I created and put in the crystal necklace were now in my body, I had a hard time trying to get used to it. You guys have some super strong chakra, for a while I looked like I currently did and I couldn’t step out into public. But as you know chakra control and concentration is my specialty so I managed to keep this chakra at bay and hidden. I practiced endlessly and secretly during the late hours of the night trying to master every single ability I possed from this new chakra too! Then I had to see just what I could do with my new chakra, I had one specific thing I wanted to do and that was to create these monsters that would fight based on my commands, I was able to do this using another forbidden jutsu scrolls I stole. I had to make the first one somewhere other than the Leaf village, so I chose the Sand Village. I thought I placed it somewhere they wouldn’t notice, sadly the Kazakage found it, and this newly created creature attacked out of instinct. I should thank you for that since I used it to create stronger ones and I dispersed them among most of the major lands not to cause suspicion. As I said, I was continuing to work and practice all the new abilities I got with your and Sasuke’s chakra. Though I was cut short when you found out about this weird chakra from something as simple as those rocks and flowers and got Kakashi-sensei involved, turning it into this whole operation. I got to hand it to you, I never would have expected you to find about this, but luck was on my side and I got to work in this side from the inside which allowed me all the opportunities to hide my tracks” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gritted his teeth, he tightened his grip on the knife, his knuckles turning white</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But you kept turning up evidence left and right and I was beginning to grow nervous, I’ll admit it. Then you all brought in Lady Tsunade, now I had to act fast now that she was involved and I knew exactly what she would use to help. When she was training me, Lady Tsunade had told me soon I would be her protegee and would take her place. That included becoming the guardian of the legendary chakra scroll. She began to teach me how to use it and activate it, I remember she told me once I had enough powerful chakra, I would be able to use it and manipulate it. Well now I had plenty of powerful chakra, and I was able to snatch it carefully while Lady Tsunade slept. I remembered how to activate it and the correct steps when you want to change something, that’s how I managed to erase my own chakra from it. I had managed to tie up all my ends before anything came to the light but then I saw and sensed Gaara walking up to the village with what looked like a report, and I remembered that a monster was in the sand and there was no doubt he got a sample to run a test on. What was worse on my end is I completely forgot I had left my own chakra in their database when I was there to work on an antidote for poison during the war. I had to do what I had to do in order for my actions from being discovered. However, I was prepared with a backup plan in case anything like this would happen. I also swiped a forbidden jutsu scroll on memory erasing that didn’t require any Yamanaka clan chakra, just the right hand signs and chakra. I caught the Kazekage by surprise and took him down with my own strength, then used the forbidden jutsu to erase his memories and seal this specific memory of the attack. I would have never expected Ino to master memory recovery so fast, things were finally to be in my favor. But I saw how things were slowly becoming to come to light of my actions. No matter how thorough and detailed I was at first with this, you kept coming closer to the truth. I had no choice but to get out while I could, but in a last-minute attempt to throw off any suspicion on me, I flung the necklace to the streets of the village and whoever would pick it up would be the unlucky person, not that I cared” Sakura finished </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was looking at her, his own blue eyes wide and in complete shock, as Sakura admitted and explained everything she did as if it was nothing. It really was her, she did this of her own will and planned this as early as during the actual war. Naruto couldn’t believe it, sweet and innocent Sakura was capable of causing this chaos and crimes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura…” Naruto couldn’t even form words right now “But...why?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Sakura repeated, she laughed loudly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ANSWER ME SAKURA” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why did I do this?” Sakura continued to laugh, although it quickly turned into something dark</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s face turned one of horror, </span>
  <em>
    <span>how could she be laughing in a situation like this? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have some nerve asking me why I did all this” Sakura said as she finished laughing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto furrowed his eyebrows </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right, I forget you’re still an idiot. Which is why I was so sure my plan would never be discovered” Sakura quickly formed a Rasengan in her hand and launched it to an unsuspecting Naruto, he flew back until he skidded to a stop on the ground   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto groaned as he tried to get up, but Sakura had already walked to where she had caused Naruto to fall</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did this all because of you Naruto” Sakura said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto made a startled noise “.....M-Me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura scoffed, her face suddenly going to something dark, something Naruto has never seen on Sakura before</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t give me that reaction. You shouldn’t be surprised” Sakura said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pushed himself up by his elbow “I don’t understand Sakura-chan? What did I do to you to make you do all these awful things” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura quickly pulled out a kunai knife and charged it with lighting, tossing it directly into Naruto’s shoulder to keep him down. Naruto cried out in pain as the metal tore into his flesh, blood seeping out in the wound. He pulled it out in order for his healing abilities to take action, he looked at Sakura as if she had officially lost her mind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You took Sasuke away from me” Sakura simply said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you talking about?” Naruto threw back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha, still playing the victim that’s fine” Sakura said flatly, her hands began to glow it looked like she was forming more Rasengans. Naruto quickly jumped out of the way so he could avoid being hit again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He conjured up his clones, which surrounded Sakura completely, all pointing kunai knives at her. Once again Sakura gave a menacing chuckle </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura, what do you mean this was all because I took Sasuke away? I kept my promise to you, I did my damn best to bring him back and I did” Naruto shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I mean Naruto, and you really didn’t keep your promise” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“EXPLAIN” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I loved him Naruto. Since we were kids you knew my feelings for Sasuke were strong. I even told you I loved him, and you had the nerve to sit there and act like you were my friend and you weren’t doing anything” with that, Sakura charged her arm up with lighting </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Chidori!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sliced her arm through each of the shadow clones, each one going up to a poof. She pulled out her own kunai knife again and charged towards Naruto, Naruto pulled out a knife and quickly blocked her action, the two metal weapons making a loud sound and spark at their collision</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I had my own suspicions that there was something between you two, but when Sasuke left as kids, it reassured me that Sasuke wanted nothing to do with you, even if it hurt me that he abandoned the village. But we found him again and I saw, that despite his hatred for you, he risked his life to fight by your side, I just knew. Then he denounced his ways for you and left the village because if you again….this was all your fault!” Sakura said as she pushed harder against the kunai knives </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jumped back to put more space between them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I had to do something to bring him back, and that meant taking you out. But as soon as Sasuke left, I noticed how much you left the village. When I was out collecting my rock and chakra, I sensed you coming and hid, and to my surprise, I saw that you found him again. And you didn’t even tell me. You kept these secret visits, and I saw how you two became close, even going on missions together. When I overheard that Kakashi sent you alone to the Hot springs, I was so sure you would use this opportunity to see Sasuke. I made the mistake of following you to the Hot Springs, my original plan was to confront you there. But I saw just how </span>
  <em>
    <span>close</span>
  </em>
  <span> you two became. You did all this behind my back. You knew I loved him Naruto and you just sat there and listened to me” Sakura growled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She began running again, pulling her arm back as she was about to deliver a strong punch. Naruto really didn’t want to fight her, he was still having a hard time processing that this was really his comrade doing all this, he jumped in the opposite direction. Sakura ended up punching a tree clean off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura I….” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Save it. You did what you did. And I did what I had to do to get you out of the picture and have Sasuke returned to me like I originally asked for. In order to take you down, I had to get stronger, so strong that I would take you out without a doubt. I tried to do it behind the scenes by using those monsters at these various locations to draw you out and kill you, but you somehow managed to get Sasuke to help, and I couldn’t hurt the love of my life” Sakura turned to find the blonde looking at her with great sadness</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you know how much I hated you Naruto? My anger and hatred was so great that I actually activated the Sharingan I got from Sasuke’s chakra” Sakura said as her Sharingan flashed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto mouth fell open at that statement </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So now I’ll end you once and for all, so Sasuke can really be mine” Sakura seethed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>THE TRUTH YALL</p><p>FINALLY, OOOOF I WANNA HEAR YALL THOUGHTS? MISS GURL REALLY WENT ALL OUT WITH THIS JUST FOR SASUKE </p><p>when I say stuff is about to go down, I mean it. 😶</p><p>ANYWAYS i have a presentation tmr about some research I did about the indigenous community and a STATS exam, and ill finally be done with school, wish me luck guys ✨</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS ♥️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Chapter 46</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sakura flashed her eyes, luckily Naruto saw this coming and looked away before he could get caught under any genjutsu. Naruto wasn’t aware of what Sakura could do with her new eyes, but anyone who had the Sharingan should be considered dangerous </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto jumped back again to put even more space before them, he tried to call out to her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura wait...please we don’t have to fight. Let’s talk this out” Naruto pleaded, he really couldn’t find it in himself to fight her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Talk? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ha!</span>
  </em>
  <span> The time for talking is over. You betrayed me and totally ignored my love for Sasuke and went off on your own with him” Sakura said as she lunged forward, swinging her leg in front of her. Naruto blocked the kick and the punches that followed soon after </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to fight you, we have to talk about this” Naruto said as he blocked the blows </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you even think about what I told you Naruto? The confession I gave to you when we sat on top of the Hokage’s cliff. The only reason I told you that was to see if you would be honest and tell me you knew where Sasuke was and was visiting him. But no….no you looked me in the eyes and told me it was going to be okay. You selfish lying brat!” Sakura yelled as she pulled her arm back and punched the ground </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“CHA!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ground rumbled as it was breaking from the forceful punch, Naruto lost his balance and Sakura once again tried to use her Sharingan. Naruto closed his eyes and jumped into the tree branches, Sakura let out an irritated growl</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura I’m asking you one last time, as your teammate and best friend. Stop, you’ve done enough damage!” Naruto shouted </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have some nerve calling yourself my best friend after betraying me like this. You knew how much I loved and adored Sasuke. How...How could you Naruto?” Sakura said, despite her own wishes, her voice cracked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a sigh….this was all his fault. He was aware of Sakura’s strong feelings towards Sasuke, and yes, it had been strong for all these years. And when she finally said that she in fact did love the Uchiha, he sat there when she was the most vulnerable and lied, continuing to do things with the raven behind her back while Naruto knew of Sakura’s love in the back of his mind. But that was no excuse for Sakura to do all this, to put the lives of so many in danger. As much as Naruto blamed himself, as much as this went against his own personal feelings, he was on a mission. He had to stop Sakura at all cost</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never meant to hurt you Sakura. I always did what you wanted me to do, especially when it came to Sasuke. When you told me to promise you to bring back Sasuke, I did just that and I kept it with me all these years. Even when you lied to me and said you loved me, I knew it was a lie and I never held it against you, people do crazy things for people they care about, I understand that. However, I can’t understand why you did this! When you confessed to me I took your words and respected them, I knew you meant what you said and I did my best to help you through the same pain we shared. Believe me, I wanted to tell you where Sasuke was, I advocated that you should be by his side too, but I was sworn to secrecy since we were involved with this mess </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> created because of me. You were always in my mind Sakura, you and your feelings, but I finally had to put myself first, I had to take care of my own emotions. Although I may have not known as fast and accurately as you, I had my own feelings and thoughts with Sasuke since we were kids, and I had to say something about the bond we shared, something that was predestined for us since the creation of shinobi” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up! Now you’re just talking nonsense! What are you trying to do? Rub the fact that you were allowed to see Sasuke all by yourself and could do all these disgusting things as you pleased. Or the fact that you two always managed to end up together, no matter what. I told you I seen it and it makes me sick. How you two manage to always throw whatever rivalry and hatred you have and be willing to die for each other. I know you have a special bond, one that goes as early as early shinobi times. How do you think that makes me feel Naruto? Every time I look at you two, anyone could see just how much you care for Sasuke and how you managed to sway Sasuke to do whatever you what. It’s unfair! I’ve dedicated my whole heart and affection to Sasuke for as long as I remember, you knew this, YOU KNEW THIS, and yet you still kept him all to yourself and stole him from me” Sakura yelled angrily  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you loved him Sakura….I always did. Even when I was young and dumb with my crush for you, I always knew you were obsessed with Sasuke…..but….” Naruto paused, looking into her eyes again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura held the gaze with the same intensity </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love him too”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“.......What?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sakura said softly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love Sasuke. And believe me Sakura….my love for him is stronger than yours” Naruto said firmly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura only stared at the blonde, her eye twitching slightly as fury slowly flowed through her veins </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And Sasuke...” Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sakura “Sasuke loves me” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-You’re….lying” Sakura with a twisted smile, it was one of complete disbelief at the ridiculousness of Naruto’s words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke told it to me himself. We are destined to be together Sakura, you saw that with your own eyes” Naruto said as he peered down at the shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura stared at Naruto, her eyes wide from Naruto’s statement. Sasuke loved Naruto? Now she knew Sasuke had favoritism towards Naruto, feelings that were enough for them to get intimate.</span>
  <em>
    <span> But it was love? Sasuke actually said something that genuine and heartfelt to Naruto? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura began to shake, she gritted her teeth hard and tightened her fist. Suddenly the whiskers on her cheeks flared out, her fangs began to grow longer and sharper. Orange and Purple chakra slowly began to flow out of her and cloak her body, she looked up at Naruto. Her eyes now going to a fully matured Sharingan. The diamond on her hand soon sprouted black facial lines as it glowed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to kill you Naruto.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s eyes slowly opened, his vision blurry at first but as he continued to blink, things came into focus. Not that there was much to see anyway, all he saw was vast dark emptiness. He sat up, putting a hand to his head as he rose from his laid position on solid ground. He tried to remember what happened</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sakura </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke quickly remembered everything that happened, including when Sakura attacked all of them. He looked around a gave a startled noise when he saw a body lying not too far away from him. He saw the white hair and immediately knew who it was, he rushed over to pull the head onto his lap, gently shaking the person</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi? Kakashi can you hear me?” Sasuke asked frantically </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment, the older man groaned, his eye suddenly opening on their own. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief when the Hokage woke up</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke...you’re okay” Kakashi said slowly, Sasuke helped the older man raise to his feet. Although Kakashi winced slightly in pain as he brought a hand to his chest</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you injured?” Kakashi asked the raven </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I should be asking you that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nevermind me” Kakashi raised a hand to place it gently over Sasuke’s head, recalling how Sakura did something to him to cause him to knock out “How are you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke allowed the older man to feel his head “I’m okay. I just awoke not too long ago myself, but I had slight pain in my head. I didn’t get a good look at her as I was coming after her, but it felt like I was being hit with a genjutsu to place me in a state of unconsciousness…”   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Genjutsu? It must have been something strong in order to knock you out….like Sharingan level strong. From what I saw she did something to render you unconscious and threw you through a portal” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Sasuke said in both shock and disbelief </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Sixth Hokage nodded his head “I am just as surprised as you are. I barely had time to react before she hit me with something that looked like a Rasengan. I too lost my consciousness and I guess she threw me in the same portal” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke swallowed hardly, just what kind of power did Sakura have in her possession now? It was strong enough to knock him and Kakashi and….and </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked around in a panic, his heart racing “Naruto? Where is he?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s own worriedness began to raise as he too realized the blonde was not with them</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit...he must still be out there with Sakura” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have to go help him. There has to be a way out, he could be hurt or maybe she placed him in a state of unconsciousness too and we’re already too late and-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke calm down and take a deep breath. Now it not the time to panic” Kakashi said as he cut the rambling boy off “Even in the worst-case scenario, Naruto is strong enough to hold out on his own, we both know this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke took a deep breath and nodded, his old teacher was right. Despite his impending fury for the pink-haired girl and his concerns for the blonde, Sasuke needed to be reasonable to help Kakashi and him out of their own mess. The raven looked around, this looked like a basic dimension someone with an inexperienced Rinnegan would use. Which was weird since as far as he knew, he was the only one in existence to have this violet eye</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re in another dimension. I don’t know how, but we are. I can use my Rinnegan to get us out of here and back to the sight where we last saw Sakura” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good. But first, we need to have a definite attack plan to take her down” Kakashi said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Leave it all to me, I’ll take care of it” Sasuke said lowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easy Sasuke, I was serious when I said this mission was just to capture her and taker her in alive” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi she attacked me and you, and caused all this mess. You can’t seriously allow me to just ignore that and be friendly” Sasuke snapped </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t being friendly Sasuke, this is us having Sakura to ask her questions and get answers to this whole thing” Kakashi snapped back “What happened to giving up brutal fighting?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke growled “Who knows what she’s doing to Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t let whatever situation you and Naruto are in drive you into emotionally based actions” Kakashi said firmly  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only scoffed but nonetheless respected the older man’s wisdom </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, we have to go back to the battlefield unnoticed and in a place where we can scope out both the situation of what she and Naruto are doing. Based on the power and impact we on how we were hit, it’s fair to assume that she doesn’t expect us so soon, we’ll use this to our advantage. Then we protect Naruto and hit her with a basic level jutsu to test her strength. If she pulls something, we use our maximum abilities to take her down and capture her. Again, alive Sasuke and I mean it.” Kakashi said out loud </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good to me” Sasuke said “Hold on a minute” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi raised an eyebrow </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I feel something….and it’s Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto? Is he here or nearby?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No not close. But I just sense his chakra” Sasuke paused, but then looked up at his former sensei “I think I have the ability to sense Naruto’s chakra through dimensions” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi’s eye widened “You don’t mean how Naruto has the ability to sense you within a certain range?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think so, something along those lines”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s crazy how connected you guys are”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re telling me…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well this is good for us, at least we know he’s alive somewhere” Kakashi sighed, Sasuke nodded, this was a weird new sensation, it must have come with his Rinnegan. This was still a new addition to his body and still required some getting used to and practice </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go with our plan. We need to hurry in case Naruto does get into trouble as well as we finally take down Sakura” Kakashi instructed</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded as he gave one final glance at their location and a check on their bodies to make sure they were okay</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke flashed his Rinnegan and opened a portal to the dimension in which he sensed Narutos chakra in, the two hopped through and had entered the forest setting they were once in. Trying to be as stealthy as possible, they barely managed to hide their extremely shocked reaction to the sight of Sakura in front of them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yall ready for the chaos? 🍿😃</p><p>IM SO EXCITEDD FOR THESE CHAPTERS LIKE I LOVE READINGS YALL REACTIONS TO THIS, YALL BE SOOOO FUNNY </p><p>THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD VIBES BTW I LOVE YOU ALL♥️</p><p>anyways guys today....was not my day🙃 I woke up and logged into my presentation at the wrong time so that was great! Also while I was taking my STATS exam my wifi went out during the middle of it and kicked me out of the exam so I didn't get to finish. I emailed my prof TWICE and even emailed the math department and they never answered me today, so I really hope they email back cuz I really didn't get to finish and I tried so hard to reach out🥲 and I almost got hit by a car so yeah 😐  if yall could send me good vibes and manifest them allowing me to finish my exam that would be great ✨</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS 💕</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. Chapter 47</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura was encased in a mixture of purple and orange chakra, fangs and whickers on full display, her eye red with fury and danger that came with the Sharingan </p><p> </p><p>“What the…” Naruto gasped out</p><p> </p><p>As if he needed any further proof, Sakura was giving prime evidence that she indeed did steal his and Sasuke’s chakra. He could sense it, anyone could feel, this level of chakra was powerful, it was the perfect mix of a little of the Sage of the Six Paths and that of a Kunoichi. Sakura practically radiated power and strength </p><p> </p><p>Sakura yelled out in anger and focused chakra into her two fists, she struck both of them down hard on the ground. The ground rippled from the sheer force as it shook violently, Naruto was caught up in the powerful aftershock and lost his balance, Sakura took that opportunity to once again focus chakra to enhance her own strength and punched Naruto in his gut, Naruto shouted out in pain as a bit of blood flew from his mouth, he flew back far and reached the other side of the forest</p><p> </p><p>Naruto slumped against the tree, breathing heavily and trying to recover fast from the critical hit Sakura managed to get on him</p><p> </p><p><em> “She’s not holding back on you Naruto” </em> Karuma said from inside their shared domain <em> “You have to fight”   </em></p><p> </p><p>Wiping at his mouth for any excess blood, Naruto slowly raised and put his hands together and focused. He opened his eyes until he was yellow and orange, bold markings appearance all over him as he took on his Kuruma Form. He let out one final sigh and looked straight ahead to the path his body made as he was flung back </p><p> </p><p>“I know.” </p><p> </p><p>With incredible speed, Naruto ran straight to Sakura. Sakura couldn’t even see the blonde with such speed and she was caught off guard, Naruto delivered a series of fast and powerful kicks and blows. The pink-haired girl cried out in pain as she was gradually lifted off the ground from the attacks, as her body was in mid-air Naruto made a Rasengan in his hand and pushed it right through her chest  </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “RASENGAN”  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>A large beam of light resulted in the action, Naruto covered his eyes briefly and flew back. When both the light and dust cleared, he could see Sakura laying on the floor, but his eyes grew wide when she saw her lying there, the combined chakra still a cloak around her as she was in the middle of getting up </p><p> </p><p>“Your Rasengans are still stronger than mine, even though I have a bit of your chakra, I’ll give you that” Sakura put a hand to her chest and looked up at Naruto with a smirk “But because of that, your and Sasuke’s chakra combined with the power of my Byakugou seal allows for the perfect shield and recovery move” </p><p> </p><p>Naruto grunted in irritation, each move pained him to do against Sakura, but just as Kurama and his Sensei said, he now knew personal feelings were to be pushed aside. Sakura has revealed her true colors and Naruto would do everything in his power to stop Sakura and get the two men back to him. Naruto raised his hands and balled them, black balls of the mini tailed beast bombs surrounded him, he flung them all to Sakura</p><p> </p><p>Sakura skillfully jumped and dodged each one, once again using her combined chakra from the war heroes and her own strength, she punched away at the last two balls, they exploded mid-air and caused another powerful shake and sweep of dust. Using the wind of dust to his advantage, Naruto created one large black chakra ball and tossed it to Sakura’s back. Unprepared, Sakura yelled out another cry of pain as she was forced to fall face down to the ground hard, a crater was created by the action </p><p> </p><p>Naruto flew back down and looked at the still body, for a while, Sakura didn’t move and the blonde believed he had finally taken the rogue ninja down. He was about to reach out to capture her when suddenly Sakura’s arm began to spark with lightning, the familiar chirping sound filling the air. Naruto was surprised that the ninja still had the ability to fight despite being hit with one of his most powerful attacks on her, but at this point, he wouldn’t put anything past Sakura. Although slow, Sakura used the arm that wasn’t sparking to push herself up, when she was on her knees, she instantly stuck her arm out and held it steady as she cried </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “CHIDORI”   </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The lightning-based chakra sprung from her arm and heading towards Naruto, Naruto moved just in time and combatted that with a Rasenshuriken he had formed while he waited for Sakura’s attack. Still in the middle of recovering, Sakura couldn’t move in time and was struck yet again with another powerful ball of chakra. This time, it flung her across the forest with a devastating force. </p><p> </p><p>Sakura groaned in pain as she landed hard on the ground, her vision was a little groggy. When she was still trying to test out the abilities of the new chakra, she was disappointed to discover that this didn’t include Naruto’s fast healing abilities. However, she was lucky enough to have the healing properties from the diamond that crowned her forehead. She activated it and all the injuries Naruto caused her were healed, she got back up, she knew Naruto would either be on his way or waiting for her </p><p> </p><p>“We have the same attacks now and we know how to avoid them, that shouldn’t be a surprise but it makes things harder. No matter what we use we either avoid them or get hit and recover from them quickly, me more than him” Sakura huffed “Not a problem. I’ve been using that idiots power more, it’s time for me to up the game and use the other part of my new chakra” </p><p> </p><p>Before Sakura could fully plan her next move, Naruto had appeared before her and multiple Rasengans surrounded him</p><p> </p><p>“Just stop all this Sakura” Naruto called out, still trying to reach out to the ninja with reason </p><p> </p><p>“You continue to talk like you’ve done nothing wrong. I can never forgive you for stabbing me in the back like this Naruto” Sakura said as she looked at the blonde, green eyes clashing against blue ones I’ve already lost Sasuke once and I’ve seen how you’ve taken him, I won’t allow this to continue. Sasuke is my true love, MY ONLY TRUE LOVE NARUTO”</p><p> </p><p>Still having Naruto’s eyes on her, Sakura flashed her eyes but she gasped when a pair of red and violet eyes got in her line of vision. She froze </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Izanami”  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Sasuke waited until he saw a complete cease in all Sakura’s movement as she stood in front of him, her eyes going back to green as she looked blank. He put a quick hand to his eyes at it slightly burned, using Izanami always rendered a person blind, however, given Sasuke’s own chakra level and genjutsu mastery, he managed to shut it off before any more damage was done to his eye  </p><p> </p><p>“SASUKE!” Naruto cried out as the raven suddenly appeared him</p><p> </p><p>Naruto immediately ran to Sasuke and hugged him, pulling him impossibly tight. He pulled back to put his hands on Sasuke’s face, looking over the raven and placing his yellow hand over his eye to use his and Kuruma’s chakra to heal any discomfort</p><p> </p><p>“Sasuke are you hurt? Where’d you go? God I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to find you” Naruto asked in a rush </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke blinked rapidly as his eye was suddenly healed of any irritation thanks to the chakra from Naruto’s Kurama form. He looked at the blonde and nodded </p><p> </p><p>Naruto let out a breathy laugh as he pulled Sasuke close again</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so glad you are okay” Naruto said softly </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke stood there for a moment, his heart-tugging as he only could imagine the emotional distress Naruto was going through. He slowly raised his arms to wrap them around Naruto </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry, I’m okay” Sasuke pulled back “Karuma Form? That serious huh?”  </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, you’re not going to believe me Sasuke, her powers are…..” Naruto said “....Wait where’s Kakashi-sensei?” </p><p> </p><p>The older man suddenly jumped down from the trees at the mention of his name, his back was to them as he looked at the still statue-like Sakura</p><p> </p><p>“Is this the Izanami Sasuke? You placed her in some loop-based genjutsu right” Kakashi said as he looked at the girl </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke nodded, Naruto let out another sigh of relief as he saw his two comrades back together and safe </p><p> </p><p>“What happened? I saw Sakura wave her hands and use Rasengans to knock you guys out and pushed you through some portal” Naruto exclaimed </p><p> </p><p>“She somehow managed to catch me when I was off-guard and weak with a genjutsu to put me in a state of unconsciousness. Luckily I managed to fight through it and snap out of it, she then put Kakashi and me in a portal” Sasuke explained </p><p> </p><p>Kakashi began to reach in his pocket for seals to bound the girl “It was almost as if she had the power of the Shari-” </p><p> </p><p>Suddenly green eyes began to blink, Kakashi let out a startled sound as he jumped back away from the girl. Naruto and Sasuke also noticed the sudden movements in the girl, Naruto took Sasuke by hand to pull him back, also putting them at a distance from her </p><p> </p><p>Sakura managed to realize she was inside of a genjutsu inside the recurring loop. She used both her Sharingan she managed to keep inside the infinite loop to break out of it, once she was back in reality, her eyes instantly fell on the two boys who looked at her furiously  </p><p> </p><p>She saw the two of them side by side, holding hands as they looked at Sakura with plain hatred</p><p> </p><p>This sight alone skyrocketed Sakura’s temper, anger once again filling her entire being and her Sharingan returning back to her eyes</p><p> </p><p>Sasuke made a startled noise, his eyes snapping wide<em> “....I-Impossible”  </em></p><p> </p><p><em> “How could she have a Sharingan?” </em> Kakashi said with the same level of shock </p><p> </p><p>Before Naruto could explain, Sakura let out a growl as she balled her fist, lightning flowing through them, she punched hard at the ground again, this time directly sending the sparks of lights to flow through the ground. Suddenly lightning coursed through the forest floor, the three male shinobi jumped into the trees, effectively missing this attack </p><p> </p><p>“Lightning Style? When did she possess this?” Sasuke whispered yelled as they hid in the tall trees</p><p> </p><p>“Just what the<em> fuck </em> is going on here?” Kakashi swore, the boys knew now this was seriously messing with the usual calm sensei </p><p> </p><p>“Okay so long story short, and I mean super short. Sakura stole our chakra when we were protecting her with Kuruma and Sasunoo during the war. She stored it in the crystal necklace Grandma Tsunade gave her. She did a shit-ton of research and stole forbidden jutsu scrolls to figure out how to combine our chakras and infuse them into her, also making the creatures. When she did it she gained some of our abilities from the chakra and secretly practiced using them” Naruto explained quickly, trying to look at the battlefield below them to see any impending facts</p><p> </p><p>“But why?” The Sixth Hokage asked </p><p> </p><p>“Uh well….” Naruto paused, he looked at Sasuke nervously</p><p> </p><p>“Get on with it Naruto” Sasuke urged </p><p> </p><p>“She found out that I was seeing you and she saw how we got...together. And she was pissed and wants to kill me” Naruto rambled, still trying to be cautious of any attacks </p><p> </p><p><em> “What?” </em> Sasuke and Kakashi said in unison </p><p> </p><p>“I told you she loves you Sasuke! And she told me too but I ignored it because ya know, I love you too Sasuke” </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke blinked at the blonde as he said that </p><p> </p><p>“Then she was angry about that and now in order to have you, she is going to kill me, well trying to” Naruto ended </p><p> </p><p>“You mean to tell me…” Sasuke looked at Naruto “She did all this….all this chaos...this entire process...because of her feelings….? This whole thing started because she saw us together…..and got jealous…..And she’s trying to kill you because she said you took me away from her” </p><p> </p><p>“Uh yeah….pretty much” Naruto affirmed </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke turned to Kakashi “I’m going to murder her.” </p><p> </p><p>Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a deep sigh “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” </p><p> </p><p>“There’s a lot more to it but that’s the gist of it. I get you’re mad Sas’, I’m upset too but Kakashi-sensei is right. We need to be level-headed about this and take her down so you too can learn the truth and really figure out why she’s keeping this up” </p><p> </p><p>Sasuke scoffed at the blonde, he would be doing no such thing </p><p> </p><p>“But like I said, Sakura has our powers, we’re basically fighting something on our level. She has most of our abilities from what I can tell” Naruto said, suddenly the tree they were on began to shake</p><p> </p><p>“And with these abilities, she will get Sasuke back” Sakura said as she finished punching the tree </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOOHOOO THE TEAM IS BACK SO SHIT REALLY ABOUT TO GO DOWN </p><p>Sakura really built different now like damnnnn, oh well 🥴</p><p>BTW THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH LOVE AND POSITIVE VIBES I REALLY APPRECIATE IT CUZ YA SIS WAS REALLY GOING THROUGH IT 🥺♥️OKAY SO UPDATE ON THE STATS PROBLEM LIKE I TOLD YALL, SO MY PROF FINALLY EMAILED ME BACK AND WANTS TO MEET WITH ME AT 10AM TO TALK ABOUT THE SITUATION SO IM REALLY HOPING SHE'LL LET ME FINISH IT SOOOO WOOO </p><p>also once again I shopped at Hot Topic and bought some enamel pins of Naruto &amp; Sasuke (Bestie you know who you are, shout out to you and Ily✨) I also got this matching pink Nirvana Tee for me and my lil sister so yuhhh😌</p><p> </p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS LOVES💞</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0048"><h2>48. Chapter 48</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The tree began to shake and the three male ninjas all leaped off, landing back into the center of the forest, Sakura smirked as she successfully managed to bring them back down to the battlefield, she turned around to face them  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura we don’t have to fight like this, you know you won’t win. As your Hokage and former Sensei, I am telling you to stand down and come into custody with us, no further problems need to be caused” Kakashi called out to her, this was his final warning before he knew they all were about to get into the final hours of this battle </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Won’t win? That was a funny joke Kakashi-sensei” Sakura smiled darkly, she tightened her fist, the purple and orange chakra she was cloaked in flaring up “I made sure that wasn’t possible” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura you have to understand you’re doing all this for a pointless reason” Kakashi argued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My love and feelings are not pointless! I had the utmost adoration and devotion to Sasuke for all these years. I</span>
  <em>
    <span> WILL</span>
  </em>
  <span> get him”  Sakura yelled back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke stepped in front of the Hokage and future Hokage, his Sharingan and Rinnegan looking directly into Sakura’s own Sharingan eyes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right Sakura, we’ve been the ones who were wrong” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi and Naruto made a startled sound at the Uchiha’s words </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your reasons for doing all this were completely logical” Sasuke stepped closer “Your love for me has always been strong. I mean just look at what you did, and it was all for me…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke...” Sakura said softly, relieved to see Sasuke walking towards her  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke now stood in front of Sakura, he gently raised a hand to caress the side of Sakura’s face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you doing Sasuke?” Naruto shouted out, extremely confused at the raven’s behavior. Kakashi looked on with the same confusion at the bizarreness </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You deserve to know how I truly feel about you, after all you’ve done for me” Sasuke said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes my love” Sakura answered, completely transfixed by Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura the way I feel for you…” Sasuke’s hand stopped at her chin, he pulled it harshly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“...Is complete hatred.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Quick as ever, Sasuke pulled out his sword from behind him and dove it straight into Sakura’s stomach. Sakura screamed out in pain, she struggled to meet Sasuke’s eyes. He peered down into them with absolutely no remorse</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve told you time and time again how you wasted your time being obsessed with me. I never and will never return your useless sentiment” Sasuke said as he twisted the sword deeper into her flesh. Sakura continued to cry out in pain, blood coming out her mouth</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SASUKE STOP” Naruto yelled </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“DO NOT KILL HER SASUKE” Kakashi yelled loudly too </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hearing the cries of the two other males, and the love of her life pushing a sword into her,  she said weakly “B-But Sasuke....” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m already a cold-hearted killer and prisoner, I don’t care if I serve another sentence if it means killing the likes of you for Naruto” Sasuke said darkly, he finally forced the sword completely through Sakura’s body, the girl’s knees instantly gave out and she fell to the ground</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke took out his sword from her body and wiped it of any of her blood, considering it disgusting to have it stained by her, he gave her one last look, his entire being radiating nothing but hatred and emptiness as the girl who was holding her wound to stop the blood from falling out “The one who I truly love is Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura gave a strangled sound, her eyes began to water as her heart was completely shattered to pieces by the boy to who she devoted her entire life and love. It hurt, and she wasn’t just talking about the fact that Sasuke straight up slashed her, but her entire world came crashing down </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke didn’t love her…..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He never did…..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He never would….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke loved Naruto…..the fucking blonde idiot was actually telling the truth </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura felt as if she had no other reason to live. She spent her entire life pining after Sasuke, she had been hurt before by him, but this was basically murdering her, </span>
  <em>
    <span>well he just did.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She risked her whole reputation and wellbeing for this, she was so convinced that Sasuke was hers, but he wasn’t. She concocted this whole plan as soon as she felt threatened that Naruto and Sasuke would become something closer, but she was already way too late…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She was enraged</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke walked away, Sakura let the tears fall freely from her face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I love you Sasuke…” Sakura sobbed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care.” Sasuke threw back flatly, not even bothering to turn around </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tried to run to the wounded girl to make sure she was okay, Kakashi held his arm out across to stop the blonde. They both stared down at the merciless raven and the crying girl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For my entire life, I was in love with you Sasuke. I did all this because I wanted you to be mine…” Sakura said, her fist tightening as they were stained with her own blood. Her Byakugou seal began to take effect into healing her wound, the process doubling in speed thanks to Naruto’s chakra in her “But I see now what I must do” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke instantly turned to look at the girl, his eyes grew wide as he saw her getting up, her wounds being completely healed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you won’t allow me to have your love, then I won’t let you give it out or anyone have the luxury of having it either” Sakura said as she looked directly at Naruto, absolute rage fueling her body </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura yelled loudly as the chakra around her once again grew in size, she held her hands out and instantly created two large balls of chakra, once the Rasengans were completed, she infused them with lightning. With another loud yell, she threw them directly to the three shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi jumped out of the way, dodging them completely</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke huffed with irritation, his eyes twitching at his own anger flowed within him “I’ll handle  this if I have to burn her alive completely” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke you almost killed her once, I cannot allow you to be this reckless. You are to follow my orders or else” Kakashi said lowly, he conjured his own Chidori and ran towards Sakura </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi managed to strike Sakura who let out a shout in pain as she flew back, Kakashi quickly moved to pull out paper bombs and laid them around her. Despite being in pain, Sakura forced herself to move out of the ways of the explosions. Through the flames and debris, Kakashi snuck up on her and threw out a series of kicks and punches, to which Sakura successfully blocked each attack, she flashed her Sharingan but Kakashi jumped back to avoid being caught in any genjutsu </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto once again made multiple mini-tailed beast bombs appear around him, he threw each one in the direction of the pink-haired girl. Sakura skillfully avoided each one, using her own strength, she once again punched at the ground to send powerful rumbles in order to catch her opponents off guard. The three jumped up, Kakashi used this chance while they were still in mid-air to throw both kunai knives and shuriken at her, Naruto quickly infusing them with his chakra as they flew to Sakura. The Kunoichi got hit with a couple, Sakura growled and threw her own metal weapons at them, this time charging them up with lightning. Unfortunately, Kakashi-sensei got hit with one and fell to the ground in pain</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto said as he ran to the older man</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m..fine. Don’t worry about...me” Kakashi winced in pain, Naruto instantly starting to infuse his chakra into the Hokage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura continued her attacks, she ran up to them with a kunai knife in order to attack when they were vulnerable. But Sasuke jumped right in front of her with his sword, the two metal weapons clashing loudly and creating sparks at their impact. Sakura was once again forced to look into those cold red and purple eyes she used to dream of seeing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll end this right now.” Sasuke said slowly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Amar-” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘WAIT NO SASUKE DON’T PLEASE” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was caught off guard by Naruto’s pleads, Sakura saw this and did not hesitate in charging her fist with the combined chakra and her strength as she punched Sasuke in the gut, making him fly backwards extremely far</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It pained Sakura to have to do that to her love, but she had no other choice now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“SASUKEE</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto cried out </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto quickly paused on healing Kakashi, he had caused that impact for the raven, he cursed himself but Sasuke was definitely going to kill Sakura if he activated his infinitely burning black flames. Sakura once again used this opportunity of Naruto being distracted to conjure a lighting-infused Rasengan and launched it directly at Kakashi, effectively knocking him down for good. Sakura knew she had a small window to act before either one of Naruto’s accomplices came back, this was going to have to take everything she had in order to take Naruto down. She actually managed to land a critical hit on Sasuke, and it was all Naruto’s fault because Sasuke still cared deeply about what Naruto said and didn’t want to hurt him in any way, Naruto snapped…. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes grew wide as he saw his sensei on the ground completely unconscious, his heart pounded as Sasuke was somewhere thrown back after his own attack. His head slowly turned to look at Sakura, he wordlessly stood up. Sakura once again pulled her fist back with it being chakra-powered, she pushed her fist forward, but Naruto stopped it with his open palm, still only looking at Sakura with an emotionless expression </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura gasped as her usually effective power punch was blocked, but she quickly got over her shock to use her other hand to punch the blonde, Naruto caught this fist too. Sakura then turned to kick Naruto, but Naruto used his hold on her two fists to twist the female ninja and delivered his own devastatingly powerful kick into Sakura’s side, she fell down hard into the ground which resulted in the creation of a large crater. Naruto then made a huge Rasengan and held it over his head, he stared down at the pink-haired girl. Sakura barely twitched with movement as she urged her seal and chakra to heal her quickly, but it was no match to the speed at which Naruto threw the large powerful chakra ball at her, pushing her further down into a hole in the ground</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only looked blankly at the smoke and dust that erupted from his attack</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde whipped his head at the familiar voice that called out his name, he glided over to the raven</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke are you okay?” Naruto asked hurriedly, he didn’t even wait for an answer before he was already infusing his healing chakra into Sasuke’s body for any injuries </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I was just….nevermind” Sasuke said, he cut himself short before he made Naruto think it was his fault and place the blame on him, he only allowed Naruto to heal him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry Sasuke, but I don’t want to...” Naruto let out a sigh “....Kill her” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only scoffed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I heard what you told her, I wouldn’t want you killing anyone over me because you’re not a cold-hearted killer or prisoner. She’s still a good person, and I know I see the good in her just like I saw the good in you when you went rogue. But in this case, as much as it hurts me, I really think we have no other choice” Naruto said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke only looked at the blonde, how Naruto managed to remain so pure, loyal, and determined after someone had hurt him was something Sasuke would never understand. He knows Naruto had done the same to him and they were now something different, but Sasuke knows he never deserved Naruto’s forgiveness and love. However, he couldn’t see how Naruto could find it in his heart to forgive Sakura for all that she’s done. He wasn’t an object that Sakura could just force to love her, his heart had already gone to someone way before he knew it.  All Sasuke knew was that he wanted to kill her with his own hands for hurting Naruto like this</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiled softly at him, Sasuke only let out a deep breath. He looked to Kakashi who still remained still on the ground not too far away from him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Forget about me, I’ll be fine. Go finish healing Kakashi” Sasuke instructed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto was about to do just that when they were both distracted by the sound of loud yelling and the ground shaking. They turned to see that in the hole Naruto caused Sakura to create with his hit, was shaking. They realized that Sakura was punching her way up to get back onto the main ground, the boys prepared themselves</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura managed to appear before them, breathing heavily as she used a large amount of chakra to heal herself completely again and make her way back to them. She saw both Sasuke and Naruto back side by side, in a battle stance ready to do anything</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“H-How….How could you two be willing to go this far for each other? No matter how much you guys get hit at the expense of the other. After all the bitter rivalry and fights, all the pain you two went through, how can you two still be together like this” Sakura said as she shook with rage </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave Naruto one look, and Naruto only shook his head</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They knew what this ultimately had come to, they had no other choice </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two boys put their hands together, suddenly their chakra flew out of their bodies and grew in height around them. Naruto’s complete Tailed Beast Form. Sasuke stepped into the powerful yellow fox, he then covered it with his own purple chakra from Sasunoo, the purple armor going around the enlarged fox</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura swallowed nervously with wide eyes as she saw the towering figure and felt the immense chakra from the two boys power, even though she had a total of four powerful chakras in her, it was nothing compared to the combination of Sasunoo and Kurama </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can do all this because of one thing” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After all the pain, we able to perceiver and remain by each other’s side because….” Naruto started, the two boys now looking down from their combined for at the microscopic girl “....we love each other that much and will do anything for each other”   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>SASUKE. IS. RUTHLESS </p><p>BIG DADDY SASUKE REALLY ABOUT THAT SMOKE, AND WE WITH HIM GANG NO FUCKING CAPPPPPPP</p><p>now yall know they really about to DESTROY shawty </p><p>ANYWAYS IM AM GIVING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU GUYS A KISS. YALL REALLY CAME THROUGH FOR ME WITH THE LOVE, SUPPORT, GOOD VIBES/ENERGY, AND MANIFESTATIONS LIKE I CANNOT EXPRESS TO YALL HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL YALL ARE REALLY SUCH A RIDE OR DIE GANG🥺 🥺 🥺 🥺 🥺 🥺 ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💘💘💘💘💘💘💘</p><p>NAH CUZ I MEANT WITH MY PROF AND THEY GAVE ME THE CREDIT FOR THE ONES I COULDNT ANSWER, SO I DIDNT EVEN HAVE TO RETAKE IT OR CONTINUE WHERE I LEFT OFF, THEY JUST GAVE ME THE POINTS AND I WAS SO FUCKING HAPPY SO ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU , YALL REAL ONES 💗💗💗💗💗</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS ✨</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0049"><h2>49. Chapter 49</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naruto and Sasuke stood high above Sakura, watching her as Karuma and Sasunoo stood towering above her </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura swallowed hard, her heart was beating so fast due to such the high-intensity moment. The two boys had combined their chakra in their ultimate attack together, but that’s not what Sakura had a hard time facing. Sasuke and Naruto had just confirmed in front of her together that they were in fact in love. The whole reason why they were able to bounce back from their troubled past and form an unbreakable bond that went beyond destiny was because they really harbored such strong feelings for each other. Sakura was bearing witness to the ultimate testament of what they were capable of when they were together and mutual of their love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura, we’ll give you one last warning” Naruto started “I’m begging you”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura only continued to listen to the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can end this right now, no more unnecessary fighting has to happen” Naruto continued </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura briefly looked down, wiping the sweat and dirt she gathered from her face. Her chakra was incredibly low. Despite having a total of four chakras, which included that of her current opponents, it had run low from the battle and she used the last chunk of it to heal and get herself from the hole after the continued devastating attacks from both Naruto and Sasuke. She could barely stand right now, but she couldn’t let her enemies know that right now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You hurt me Naruto” Sakura said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke scowled, Naruto frowned as he heard the pink-haired girl utter those words. He knew he was guilty in that aspect, he always did. When Sakura had told him the first time of her feelings, Naruto held them close, wishing to help her and understand that they were genuine feelings. Even though Naruto may have not known about his own love at the time, all his secret visits and activities with Sasuke were also proof that his own feelings for Sasuke were genuine too. Naruto had to tell Sasuke, their love was inescapable, on both parties, as Naruto was the luckiest person in the world to have Sasuke reciprocate the same feelings. He knew what Sakura was going through right now, fighting for her love. That’s what Naruto had been doing for the last few years, hell that’s what he did to ultimately get Sasuke to admit he loved him too. But what Sakura did was something not acceptable. She had planned something when they were fighting for peace together, she stole and dove into forbidden jutsus, she went against her former mentors, friends, and village. She even attacked them with monsters and did the same to Gaara just so she could avoid being caught for a little while. She planned something dark, and even though she was fueled by love, this was something that had to be paid for, she had to be held responsible for her actions</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know I did Sakura, and I can’t begin to apologize enough for that. But please believe me when I said I always held your feelings close and knew they were valid” Naruto answered</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto how strong is your love for Sasuke?” Sakura asked as she looked up at the huge chakra form in front of her, trying to look at the two shinobi inside it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto furrowed his brows slightly at the sudden deep question “I love him so much. I would chase him down to the ends of the earth, I would sacrifice myself for him, I...” Naruto looked at Sasuke, he intertwined his fingers with pale ones. Sasuke wordlessly watched and allowed their hands to connect “...I would do anything for him” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura composed herself, balling her fist and raising them, separating her feet as she now stood in a battle stance. Naruto and Sasuke only looked at her</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Team 7 knew what this had finally come down to, they could not avoid it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then you must understand that my love for Sasuke is the same thing” Sakura said, those were her words to commence their final battle</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still holding Naruto’s hand, Sakura conjured for their Kurama and Sasunoo form to pull out their bow and arrow. Naruto saw this action and sighed, his entire being fighting against this, but they really had no choice at the moment, he made each of the nine tails on the form to have a Tailed Beast Bomb, his own hands still held on with Sasuke’s </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura’s heart began to pound and broke out in a sweat at the sight before her. It was absolutely mortifying to see such a powerful display of chakra and opponent</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura….we’ll kill you if we attack, or at the very least you’ll be in critical condition. I can sense your chakra and you’ve basically used it all up” Naruto said, his voice wavering “Please don’t do this. Just stop this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura gave out a small smile, she knew this was true. She was basically out of the chakra she had spent so long to create and master, and even with that, she stood no match to when Naruto and Sasuke combined their powerful chakra in an ultimate attack like this one. But regardless, Sakura was just as firm with her own love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just as you said” Sakura said “I would do anything for him” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke made Kurama and Sasunoo put the arrow in his bow, pointing it directly at Sakura. Naruto drew that nine tails back with their chakra balls, readying to launch them at his command</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto closed his eyes, gripping Sasuke’s hand tightly “I’m really sorry Sakura-chan” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With those final words, Karuma shot Sasunoo’s arrow, while nine chakra balls soon were hurdling towards Sakura. She couldn’t move, maybe it was from fear of the attacks coming from her, or maybe this display had finally forced her to accept reality </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Sasuke loved each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura only closed her eyes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A huge explosion of light occurred, the entire forest shook as trees and large chunks of the ground flew off as a result of the combined attack from their ultimate weapon. The boys kept their chakra steady, the aftershock of their attack causing a huge rumble. They quickly extended their chakra to protect a still unconscious Kakashi from the explosion and debris. After things had finally begun to clear away, Naruto and Sasuke took a look at the scene before them. Miles upon miles of the forest was clear, and the only thing they could see was an incredibly large and deep crater in the ground. This explosion was so large in magnitude that its powerful waves were enough to stir Kakashi back to a conscious state. His groans were heard by the boys, the two quickly disbanded their large chakra form, they did their damage with it </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto said as he and Sasuke ran over to the older man. Once at his side, Naruto finally was able to infuse his healing chakra into Kakashi just as he intended to. Once he was healed and with the help of Naruto, the Hokage was able to sit in an upright position. His eyes finally scanned the scene in front of him, it was pure demolition, and one girl was missing from it</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” was all the white-haired man could muster, so much packed into that simple question </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto only looked down as he held Kakashi, Sasuke’s mismatched eyes met his former sensei’s. He knew what Kakashi wanted to know about </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shes dea-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was cut off as the three of them heard the low groans come from the large crater by them. Naruto and Sasuke instantly turned to look at each other </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sakura survived </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Quick! We gotta go make sure she’s okay” Naruto said as he got up </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto...” Sasuek said, opposed to the idea </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon Sasuke!” Naruto said as he ran to the crater </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke watched the boy run, he then helped Kakashi up to his feet and slung the Hokage’s arm over his shoulders, helping Kakashi to the scene as well</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once all three of them arrived at the large hole, Naruto wasted no time in skidding down the sides to see the girl who laid all the way in the bottom. Sasuke and Kakashi stayed behind to look over the edge</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached the girl and put his head against her chest</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He heard her heartbeat, it was faint, but it was there </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a sigh of relief, he saw that the dark lines from the Byakugou seal had retracted and disappeared into the diamond on her head. He took a good look at the girl and his heart tugged at the sight. Despite the seal, which had probably protracted her enough to barely survive this attack, a large amount of her body was badly burned, bruises and blood covered a large portion of skin, and he could tell she had a couple of broken bones. Naruto once again used his healing chakra and began to infuse it into the girl, he stopped when he saw her eyes begin to move. He was slowly met with green eyes, any trace of Sharingan and his whiskers were off of her. She was back to being Sakura, the Sakura he knew from his childhood and team 7. He pulled her onto his lap, continuing the flow of his chakra into her until she reached a healed enough state. Sakura was able to open her eyes clearly, her vision adjusting to Naruto still in his Kurama form, her eyes went down to where he had his hands on her chest, she felt his chakra in her once again</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-Naruto…” Sakura called out weakly “But why…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shh</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sakura, I’ll get you better don’t worry” Naruto said, relieved to see she was fully awake and talking, Naruto didn’t know if he could actually sit with the fact that he and Sasuke had almost killed Sakura </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After all I did to you...why are you trying to help me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re my friend Sakura. Just like I knew Sasuke was still a good person after all he did and I wouldn’t turn my back on him. I’m doing the same for you” Naruto answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura moved her eyes to briefly look at the sky, they had been fighting all day and now it was a warm and golden orange. She shut her eyes clothes, tears began to fall from them and down her face </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong Sakura-chan? Am I hurting you?” Naruto asked in a panic </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura let out a breathy laugh, this was all ironic it was downright hilarious. The person who she was so keen on killing, was saving her right now, and still worried about causing her any harm. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto really didn’t change </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hurt isn’t even the right word to describe this my pain now” Sakura said “But no, you’re not” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good” Naruto said, once again focusing on his chakra, but he stopped when a frail hand pushed them away. He looked at Sakura </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should have left me for dead” Sakura spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know I couldn’t do that”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would have done it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop speaking like that” Naruto said trying to put his hands back on her, Sakura pushed them away again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I knew I wouldn’t win with that last attack. Which is why I focused every single bit of my chakra into my seal to at least heal me through the attack, enduring enough so I wouldn’t die” Sakura said as she pushed herself off Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura I’m sorry-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura raised her hand to cut off the blonde “You’re something else Uzumaki, I’ll tell you that” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stayed silent </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After all the things I did, I tried to kill you less than a few moments ago, and you to me, you still have it in you to help me” Sakura whispered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” was all Naruto could say </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura looked up, she could see the judging and hurt eyes of Kakashi as he was held up by his former student. Then she saw those red and purple eyes, cold and remorseless, nothing she hoped to find present within them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura turned her head down, more tears falling, she really had accepted her reality now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto I’m the one who’s sorry” Sakura said, choking on her tears “I caused all this chaos and turned to dark ways based on my love for someone who was never mine to begin with” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto frowned, the sight of the girl breaking down was a hard one to see </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I really loved him, or perhaps I thought I did. Maybe it was an obsession or idolization, but now I know whatever I felt for Sasuke was nothing compared to the love you two have for each other” Sakura looked at Naruto through watery eyes “I am very sorry Naruto. I know this will never be enough to reverse all the horrible things I did to you, the village, and others, but I am really sorry. I was so foolish to be fueled by a silly emotion for someone who never even felt the same way. I accept my actions and I will be held responsible, but to you Naruto, my apologies will never be enough for all I put you through. But I just want you to know that now in my moment of clarity, defeat, and enlightenment...that I am truly sorry”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a small smile at the girl, after this long and challenging issue, they had finally reached the end. Naruto felt a small sense of Deja Vu, seeing a former teammate acknowledge their mistakes and giving up their dark and hateful ways. He glanced up to Sasuke, Sasuke returned the look</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I forgive you Sakura” Naruto said, he held his arm out for her to hold on to as he lifted her up and out of the hole</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once on the main ground and facing the two shinobi that were there, Sakura looked at the deeply  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know what I’ve done and what I say right now is not enough to excuse my crimes, but I just want the both of you to know I’m sorry. Especially you Sasuke, I want you to know how very sorry I am for treating you like you were my possession and trying to force your love to be mine, and using what I felt towards you as an excuse for my horrible deeds” Sakura said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Quite honestly Sasuke had developed a deep hatred for the girl, despite him renouncing his ways. He saw how Naruto held on to her and looked at her, his pure heart once again coming through and forgiving those who were tainted by the darkness. So he allowed Kakashi to speak on both of their behalves </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sakura I’m am relieved to see that you have seen the error of your ways, and despite how long or what had to be done to get here, you gave up on such a hateful way. I acknowledge that you wish to be held responsible for your crimes. After we come to the village and heal up, proper action will be taken” Kakashi said, but he quickly dropped his Hokage act to add another response, one as their sensei “But I’m glad to have you back and changed” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sakura gasped slightly, she saw Kakashi and Naruto look at her with something of a relief and slight happiness that she would be back in the village with them after accepting her defeat and renouncing her ways. Sasuke refused to look at her, which she would understand, she would gladly accept every single consequence for her stupid acts </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go back to Konoha” Naruto said as he took the lead, holding up the pink-haired girl </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the first time in a long time, after a painful and treacherous fight, Team 7 would return to the Village Hidden in the Leaf </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*************** </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A week had gone by, everyone was healed and things had settled after the chaos Sakura caused. Sakura had just stood trial for her crimes against the village, Naruto and Sasuke, and Kazekage and she accepted her punishment of being sent to the maximum prison away from Konoha. She had given one final grand apology to everyone, and with the escorting of Naruto, Kakashi, and Lady Tusande, Sakura was locked into the solitary confinement cell of the prison. It was a hurtful sight and experience for everyone there, but Sakura demanded that she get the maximum sentence for the things she did. She understood that both words and jail time were never enough to make up for everything she did as she was blinded by hate and fake love, but it was what she could do to start. They promised to visit her, and Sakura couldn’t be more grateful to have her closest friends still want to be in contact with her. Kakashi had resumed his Hokage duties, Lady Tsunade ran off with Shizune on a mission to find all these rocks and flowers that contained this strong chakra, the ninjas in the village resumed with their lives, all was well after Sakura’s actions  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of the gate, a heaviness between them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke why...I thought we finally figured things out. Why’d you go ask Kakashi-sensei for a new punishment” Naruto spoke, refusing to let go of Sasuke’s hand</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And we did Naruto, but after all this, it just proves that I need to finish what I started” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...I don’t get it” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look at what we just went through, we did all this and made sure Sakura was held accountable for her crimes” Sasuke said  “We did similar things, blinded by the same emotions, and if anything, my crimes were much worse. I have to finally atone for my sins Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes began to well up “But Sas’...I don’t want you to leave me again….I love you too much to go through that again” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke moved his hands to wipe at the tears that cascaded down the tan skin “I’m not leaving you Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you what you did wasn’t your fault! Please don’t shut me out and continue this stupid idea that you’ll save yourself by going on a journey. I’ll go with you if that’s the case!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t let you do that Naruto, you’ll be losing your life to me again, and I don’t want that for you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tried to speak, but Sasuke moved to kiss him before he could say anything, it felt like they were just starting all this again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You love me right Naruto?” Sasuke asked, Naruto nodded, trying to stop the tears that were falling </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then look into my eyes and soul and you’ll see that I can’t go on with you or myself if I don’t atone for my own crimes” Sasuke added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Naruto did look into those miscolored eyes, and his heart tugged that Sasuke really meant what he said. Naruto was getting tired of chasing people, especially his teammates. He would endure it for Sasuke always, but when Naruto looked into Sasuke’s eyes, he saw that Sasuke wanted to go on this journey, he shared the same guilt as Sakura and wanted to repay it in his own way. With a heavy heart, Naruto sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How long will you be gone?” Naruto asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t say” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto leaned his head against Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You better write me every day” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke gave a soft chuckle at the blonde’s words “Yeah yeah” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto went in to kiss Sasuke, this kiss lasting longer and more passionate. He released their lips to look at Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope you manage to find whatever you’re hoping to gain on this trip Sasuke” Naruto said, the sincerity hitting Sasuke right in his heart  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke never knew how much he really desired to be by the blonde’s side, but he had to do this. The two of them needed to move on with their lives and the effects of both the war and Sakura. Sasuke needed to fully face his crimes too, now he was motivated by his own love for Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I will Naruto.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sasuke said as he moved in to place one final kiss on the blonde’s lips </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>FINALLLYYYY YALL, THINGS ARE OVER AND SAKURA HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN </p><p>yall we have one chapter left and I'm really about to tear up becauseeee 🥺</p><p>anyways since I've been stressed I've turned to color and drawing again, so I bought a knew sketchbook and pencils, I got prismacolor pencils and they're so nice, them hoes expensive as hell tho💀</p><p>COMMENT &amp; KUDOS 💕</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0050"><h2>50. Chapter 50</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It had been 3 years, 27 days, 12 hours, and now 4 seconds since Sasuke left on his atonement journey </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yes Naruto had been keeping count of how long Sasuke has been away </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment Sasuke stepped foot out of the village, Naruto counted every painfully long second, hour, day, month, and year waiting for Sasuke to come back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As much as Naruto loved them, the short letters the two would exchange were never enough to satisfy the empty hole in his heart he had with Sasuke’s absence</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he had recently received one letter that made his heart practically burst </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke was coming back to the village</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto didn’t even read the entire letter at first, as soon as he saw the word “return”, the blonde fainted. Then he read that letter about a thousand more time to make sure he wasn’t dreaming </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was coming back, for good</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he heard the news he ran straight towards the Hokage’s building to bombard Kakashi with the news. Although the Hokage received his own letter from the Uchiha about his plan to come back to the village, Kakashi allowed the overjoyed blonde to ramble on the news. Iruka only watched by his husband’s side as he couldn’t remember the last they saw Naruto this happy. As if he wasn’t enough of a light, everyone in the village could see that Naruto practically radiated sunshine and joy. He wasted no time in telling his friend group that the grumpy boy was coming back to him, each shinobi didn’t know what to feel seeing a new Sasuke come back after seeing him gone for so long, but as long as Naruto was happy, so were they </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto then rushed off to the maximum-security prison far from the village to visit a certain someone. As much as it hurt seeing her in a sealed and heavily guarded cell, Naruto told Sakura the news of Sasuke coming back with excitement</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“He’s coming back for good Sakura-chan!” Naruto had exclaimed </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sakura had given a soft smile at the beaming blonde in front of her “That’s great Naruto! Send him my good wishes” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So today was the day, as detailed in that letter, that Sasuke was due to return</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi stood in front of the open gates, Naruto practically bounced from the excitement in nerves</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Could you blame him, there was so much Naruto had on his mind. They were separated for 3 years, a lot of time has gone by for things to change. How was Sasuke? Did he take care of himself? Did he eat well? Sleep? Come to terms with his past? Did he still love Naruto? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But suddenly he snapped out of his thoughts when for the first time in a while, he felt a tingle when he sensed a familiar chakra that only belonged to a distinct person. Naruto’s head whipped up to face the path ahead of him, a tall and dark figure soon began to walk towards them. Naruto wasted no time in running directly towards the person, once in front, Naruto gave a small gasp at the sight in front of him </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was unmistakably Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he looked...grown </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sure they were both 19 now, bodily changes were undeniable, but regardless Sasuke had looked so much more mature. He grew in size and his hair was much longer, he still wore the dark cloak Naruto vaguely remembers when he left all those years back  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke…”  was all Naruto could say, he raised a trembling hand to the strong jaw that was there </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You...uh look different” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So do you” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto moved to swipe away at the black bang that was covering his purple eye “Why’d you grow your hair out like this, I can barely see your face and you look even edgier” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re one to talk, it looks like someone butchered your hair” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Teme” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Usuratonkachi”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A single black eye scanned Naruto’s face, for a while Sasuke remained expressionless, but slowly, Naruto saw the corners of Sasuke’s mouth lift </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto let out a huge smile, it was Sasuke, </span>
  <em>
    <span>his Sasuke </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde wasted no time in scooping Sasuke in his arms, he instantly crashed his lips against the ravens, passion flowing between them. How long has it been since he last pressed his lips against Sasuke’s, he wished to convey every ounce of his desperation in this kiss. Naruto didn’t let go until he heard someone clearing their throat, reluctantly he took his lips off Sasuke’s, the raven’s face was bright red as he breathed heavily, trying to regain his breath </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sasuke...it’s good to have you back” Kakashi said “Naruto do you mind putting him down” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No way” Naruto said as he peppered the raven’s face with kisses, still carrying the raven in his arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright then. Sasuke how are you?” Kakashi asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m good” Sasuke said, scrunching his face as Naruto’s lips touched every inch of it “For the first time in a long time, I’m alright” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of him and let out a chuckle. Despite the fact that Naruto had carried on with his life, becoming a master shinobi, training and protecting the village, mere months away from becoming Hokage, Naruto always was waiting for Sasuke. Kakashi knew that Sasuke felt the same way, when they exchanged their own letters, Sasuke detailed him on the people he’s helped and his self reflecting thoughts, but in every letter, Sasuke always asked about Naruto. It warmed the old man’s heart, seeing his two former students all grown up and with each other like this, he still couldn’t believe how far those two have come </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad to hear that Sasuke. Well if Naruto ever lets you down, he’ll let you know that he had planned a whole party for your arrival” Kakashi spoke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke eyes widened and his body froze, Naruto still continued to plant small kisses on him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But since I know you like the back of my hand, I stopped him and told him you would much rather prefer to go home and rest after your long journey” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke relaxed and let out a sigh, he really was scared for a second that the blonde would gather a large crowd of people after Sasuke has been away for years. He wasn’t exactly that keen on the idea of having people seeing him, actually, Sasuke wasn’t too keen on people in general </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto finally tore himself away from attacking Sasuke’s face with kisses “Still angry about that Kakashi-sensei” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, I appreciate the thought from both of you” Sasuke said as he wiggled in the blonde’s arm. Naruto finally took the hint and set the raven down on his feet</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked briefly into the village clearly for what seemed like an eternity </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This place sure has changed” Sasuke said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It sure has, and it can continue to grow now that you’re back” Naruto said as he instantly intertwined their fingers </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have something for you Naruto” Sasuke said as he reached into his cloak for something </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Me? Sasuke you shouldn’t have” Naruto said, slightly shocked that the raven would come bearing gifts, Naruto feels unprepared </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“While I was traveling the lands I came across a village. There was an older woman who had a jewelry stand, and something about it caught my eye. There was this necklace set that consisted of two jewels. One was orange and the other one was purple, it reminded me of us. The woman told me that these jewels signify devotion to the wearers and to make someone yours” Sasuke explained as he pulled the purple one out for Naruto to see</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto gave a quiet  gasp when he saw the gorgeous necklace, the sun hitting it so purple rays of light were seen</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I had to get it because sadly for me, I am quite devoted to someone” Sasuke pulled down his cloak and shirt to show that he was wearing a necklace with the orange jewel “And I was hoping I could officially ask you to be mine” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“L...Like...As in b-boyfriends” Naruto stuttered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Sasuke simply said, face turning slightly red, he wasn’t too good at being affectionate, but he really did try when it came to Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto took the necklace from Sasuke and placed it around his neck, he took the purple jewel in his tan fingers, he then placed it against his heart, he smiled up at the raven before going in to kiss Sasuke deeply </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course I’m yours Sasuke” Naruto said softly before going back to kissing him, Sasuke smiled through the kiss  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Welcome home Sasuke” Kakashi smiled at the heartwarming sight  </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>*************** </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto barely closed the door to his apartment before he pounced on Sasuke, pushing him towards the direction of his bed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah Naruto... “ Sasuke said at the sudden eager action from the blonde </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde leaned forward and reached out to place his hand on the back of Sasuke’s head and push his fingers through the long black hair, emphasizing what he wished to do to Sasuke after all this lost time. His tan fingers dug into Sasuke’s scalp pressing into his skin, and Sasuke dips his head in submission before adding “I just got here” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Withdrawing his fingers from Sasuke’s head, Naruto slides them down his side and presses into Sasuke’s hip. Sasuke doesn’t lift his head or open his eyes, knowing Naruto doesn’t need permission, and Naruto hand shoves the hem of Sasuke’s shirt up, warm fingers sliding over the pale skin, admiring and exploring the newly appeared muscles on the raven’s body after all these years</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds like an excuse” Naruto is smiling, and Sasuke can hear definite slivers of amusement and happiness with his words “I missed you so much ya know” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah...I did too” Sasuke reminds him. His voice is shaking a little, and he doesn’t bother trying to control it. Naruto’s hands are on him, the same familiar long fingers and well-worn calluses</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“And now you came back to me” this is purely affectionate, Sasuke can hear it. There’s a press up against his back, and Naruto is stepping forward to push the pale man over the bed. And when he speaks again, his voice is blowing warm air against the back of Sasuke’s ear</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And now we’re officially each others”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm” Sasuke hums because he really can’t form any words right now. Naruto leans in closer, the hand under Sasuke’s shirt slides up higher pressing the palm of his hand over Sasuke’s rib cage</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know how much I missed touching you like this...” Naruto says and Sasuke can feel the rumble under his words, reverberating from Naruto’s chest to the contact with his back. Sasuke starts breathing so heavily, Naruto has to be able to hear it</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The blonde glides his hand back down, past the elastic of Sasuke’s pants this time, so he can close his large hand into a grip against the pale hip</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“....Tasting and feeling every inch of that skin. It drove me crazy” Naruto said with a little amusement and soft laughter that puffs across Sasuke’s ear, but Naruto’s fingers are starting to cause pain with how hard he’s holding onto his hip “But now I can do that as many times as I want”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto smiles against his ear, pulls Sasuke back against him by his hold on his hip so they’re pressed together from knees to shoulders</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re mine” Naruto says and Sasuke’s heart skips a beat that the statement is their new reality</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto rocks forward against Sasuke, thrusting his hips forward so the other man can feel the shape of the other’s hardened arousal through his pants. Naruto’s hand at his hip slides down farther under the fabric, digging his fingers into Sasuke’s thigh, which isn’t where Sasuke wants his hand but is close enough that his girth jumps to full attention</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was trapped by his smile and those eyes, the trickle of sweat along the other’s collarbone. He knows he can’t turn away. He can’t make himself blink, even when Naruto’s free hand hooks around the top of Sasuke’s pants and pushes down</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m the only one who gets to fuck you” Naruto proclaims, still smiling, and when his hand slides toward the direction of Sasuke’s bum, the raven shudders and finally blinks</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto….” Sasuke starts “I…” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm” Naruto hums knowingly. His hand moves away but only for a moment, the grip from his other hand on Sasuke’s thigh is still strong. Sasuke wonders if it’s the only thing holding him upright at this point</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s fingers from his free hand slide over Sasuke’s shirt and into his mouth, and Sasuke immediately starts licking his fingers on command, more ostentatiously than necessary. He doesn’t mind it, can’t even pretend to mind, not in this moment </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke doesn’t remember that he was speaking until Naruto pulls his fingers free and slides them back down his chest, shrugging his shirt up to reach inside his pants next to his other hand. They’re warm from his mouth and wet with saliva. As if on cue, Sasuke rocks back against the contact without even thinking about it</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“N-Naruto...” Sasuke starts again, and suddenly a wet finger pushes up into him, and the pressure is more than he can think through for a moment. He shudders again, whines a high sound of protest and encouragement at once. Naruto growls lowly, and when Sasuke tilts his head up and opens his eyes from an instinctive reaction, he sees the low eyes of Naruto, losing his control to his primal instincts. Anything thought of taking things slow or gentle was out the window, Naruto needed Sasuke now  </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“God I fucking missed you” Naruto says huskily. He twists his wrist, works his finger in further, which doesn’t do a lot for Sasuke’s attention</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke groans and grabs onto the sheets tightly, and manages to inhale in spite of the steady movement of Naruto’s finger slowly moving inside him. The wet sound of his finger sliding in and out, filling the room only turns him on further. Naruto shifts his hand so Sasuke’s breathing goes, and Sasuke is panting for air for a desperate minute</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “You’re so fucking tight, I knew you’d save yourself for me”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ahh...Naruto” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sasuke moans helplessly </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re all mine” Naruto presses in closer again until his mouth is pressed against the back of Sasuke’s neck “Brace yourself for me Sas’”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shudders in anticipation this time because Naruto’s finger alone is almost too much with the minimal lubrication, and when the other man pulls back so he can thrust back in, Sasuke relaxes into it. It takes a bit to remember, but he has it now, the counterintuitive give to the other’s take. Naruto hums in appreciation against the back of his neck and pushes his finger in a little deeper and a little harder. The hand holding his thigh slides slyly over to Sasuke’s cock. He holds him loosely, just enough of a distraction, a slow pump up and then down, and then with a twist of his wrist of his other hand, Naruto’s twists his finger to the knuckle and adds another</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Na..ahh...ruto”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke says, or tries to say. It comes out a little too frayed to be anything other than a gasp, and it’s quiet enough that no one but Naruto could hear </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto doesn’t answer out loud, but he curls his fingers further to press in right where Sasuke wants pressure, and Sasuke takes that as a response, at least once he can catch his breath from the involuntary mewling whine this pulls from him. Naruto moves his other hand down to touch Sasuke’s testicles then he palms the head of Sasuke’s cock then slides his thumb along the sensitive slit, already wet with precum. Without warning, Naruto presses his fingers inside Sasuke as far in as they will go until Sasuke lets out a loud moan and stills his body. He expects Naruto to slow his fingers down now that he is in so far, but he doesn’t relent. He keeps on pumping his fingers in and out of Sasuke’s hole</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Please... please” Sasuke says, voice broken and face red with embarrassment from begging</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Please what my love?” The blonde asks, continuing to drive in and out of Sasuke with one hand and gently stroking his shaft with the other</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke starts whining softly again, words swallowed up into big heaving breaths, sounds rolling out of him in waves as Naruto continues to massage his prostate</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Please...fuck me” Sasuke finally manages to say to Naruto  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto slides his fingers out and back into Sasuke’s pants before he can register what is happening. When three fingers plunge inside his hole, stretching the rim, Sasuke drops his head again and takes a strangled gasp of air</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course” Naruto’s voice cuts in over the panting sound of Sasuke’s breathing. The pale man hears the words and understands them a moment later as his brain struggles to pay attention to anything other than the pressure of the other’s fingers inside him. His hole clenches around Naruto’s fingers</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You're so pretty when you beg and get so hot for me” But the sound of Naruto’s voice is becoming a shuddery background noise, and Sasuke’s doesn’t bother to respond beyond a shake of his head</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The blonde laughs over his shoulder, scissors his fingers, and watches Sasuke gasp and nearly fall before Naruto grabs his hip in the same spot, letting go of his shaft. Sasuke shifts one hand up to the bed, braces himself with the strength of his shoulder</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I forgot how much I loved to see you like this” Naruto’s fingers are digging into Sasuke’s hip, and he has to be leaving bruises but right now it doesn’t even hurt</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>All Sasuke is aware of is that it’s taking both his hands and one of Naruto’s legs tucked under him to keep him on his feet, and he’s so hard he thinks he might be able to get off if he just rocks forward against the edge of the bed in front of him</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t. What he does is take a desperate breath and say “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Naruto...please just...please”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t specify, he doesn’t need to. He can hear the blonde’s soft chuckle even before his fingers slide out of him, taking sensation with them and sending chills of anticipation over Sasuke’s skin.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything for you Sas’”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke keeps his right hand flat on the bed and his breath even. He tries not to moan with eagerness. Sasuke had to catch his breath when the fingers at his hip vanish for a moment, but with his hand up against the bed, Sasuke’s in no danger of falling. However, Naruto suddenly grabs the edge of Sasuke’s pants and pushes the cloth free of his hips, and the resultant rush of adrenaline nearly brings the raven to his knees</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“You ready love?” Naruto asks. Sasuke shivers when Naruto’s hand comes back to his hip to hold him steady, and Sasuke knows what’s coming next even before he hears Naruto spits into his palm and reaches down to stroke over himself</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke can’t see the movement of his hand, but he can see the other man’s shoulder working, can see the glaze of anticipation starting to settle into Naruto’s eyes. And by the time the second hand comes down to lock him in place, Naruto’s gaze is just like his own</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto doesn’t keep him waiting long. He spreads Sasuke’s cheeks open with one hand, using the other to guide his length to Sasuke’s hole. And then he shoves it in and Sasuke cries out. He thought he was ready and Naruto’s not going slow at all. It’s almost too much, Naruto never was very patient about preparation but Sasuke’s legs are trembling and his arms are starting to shake now. Then Naruto’s hand leaves his hip, and before Sasuke has a chance to protest the loss of stabilization, the other man’s fingers are fumbling around to get a grip on his cock</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“F-Fuck….” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sasuke hisses and bites down on his lower lip and tries to relax. Naruto moans as he pushes in deeper while stroking along Sasuke’s length with a flick of his wrist</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s body is sparking sensation wildly over his skin from the pull and push of Naruto inside him blending with the rush of the other’s breath against his neck. The drag of fingers on his length somehow turns into a single sensation with spreading numbness from his head against his wrist. The tugging on his cock does help him to relax a little, but he's still not prepared for Naruto to pull most of the way out and then slam back in again. He yelps at the sensation</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ahhh Naruto...w-wait”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He cuts off as Naruto strokes out of time and too quick, slicks his thumb hard over the head of his cock and all the air tries to leave Sasuke’s lungs at once</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I missed you so much, missed your body, missed the way you tasted and felt under me” Naruto growls against the back of his neck. He pulls back, thrusts in again harder than the first time, and Sasuke’s thoughts scatter into fragments</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“And now you’re here with me, you’re mine Sas’ all mine” Naruto pushes in again, harder and faster, and this time he hits home to force a groan of appreciation from Sasuke’s throat </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s movements are finding a rhythm, the motion of his hand unpredictable and erratic, but his thrusts are perfectly even. Sasuke can’t resist the rocking movement Naruto is establishing for him. It feels better to give in, to let Naruto thrust into him and jerk him off at the other’s pace. But his hand leaves his cock suddenly, and Sasuke lets out a soft sob, aching to be touched. Naruto slows down, withdraws a little, and lets go of his wrist to reach out to Sasuke’s face. He smiles down at the raven, pausing to sloppily kiss the raven’s lips. Naruto pushes back inside, still rough but easier to take now. And it gets even better when Naruto reaches up over Sasuke’s shirt to touch his left nipple, thumbing over it and then pinching and twisting the way he knows the Uchiha loves. There’s an impulsive shift in Naruto’s weight as he changes the angle, and on his next thrust, he gets Sasuke’s prostate pretty good. Pleasure sparks through Sasuke, sharp and white-hot, and he just can't help the loud cry that comes out of his mouth </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s pressure against the back of his neck, just above the sweaty damp line of his shirt. Naruto’s placed an open-mouthed kiss and licks along the top of Sasuke’s spine. The raven shudders almost falls, and Naruto roughly tugs at his nipple </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>"You’re doing well love. You're so good for me" The words were warm and wash over Sasuke, making his cock harden further</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto lets go of his nipple to grab him by the shoulder, thumb on his nape and forefinger curled around the side of his throat, but maintains his angle and the amazing stimulation it's giving Sasuke. And the pressure of his grip on Sasuke’s neck is enough of a warning to keep the noise down. Naruto keeps pounding his hole, keeps mouthing at his neck and telling Sasuke how hot he feels and how beautiful he looks, all fucked open and flushed pink for him. Sasuke’s knees start shaking from the encouragement. He can feel his thighs trembling uncontrollably, and he’s pretty sure his calves are going to cramp up in a minute. But he stays upright for a second, and he can feel himself going towards the edge faster than he expected and all he has to do is make it there</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto bites at Sasuke’s neck and growls and it makes heat shoot along Sasuke’s spine, makes his skin tingle all over, and makes everything tense up. Including his inner muscles because Naruto says </span>
  <em>
    <span>"ahhh yes….you’re so tight"</span>
  </em>
  <span> and takes his hand away to grip both Sasuke’s hips so he can push in faster and harder while holding him up</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly remembering how to breathe again overwhelms Sasuke, oxygen flooding his system and pleasure surging along with it, moving from his bum to his cock to his chest. Sasuke tips over into orgasm, totally unable to stop the long loud moan falling from his mouth. He comes completely untouched, come squirting onto the bed and all over his stomach. He tips over physically when the next sharp thrust of Naruto’s hips shoves him over the bed more. Sasuke has both his hands trapped underneath himself now, come still spurting from his cock, and he can't breathe</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto groans against Sasuke’s skin and rocks up hard, fast, deep, and desperate. Sasuke can almost feel the shiver of orgasm run through the other man, feeling the pulse of the other man’s pleasure inside him, and his vision is starting to go even before Naruto shoves him up against the edge of the bed completely. He somehow keeps his feet, even though he’s not quite sure how. It’s been some unmeasured period of time when he blinks back into focus, and he’s still upright and still pressed up against the bed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So good Sas’” Naruto says against his neck. There’s a pull on too-sensitive nerve endings, sharp enough to make Sasuke flinch and hiss, and Naruto slides free though he keeps his hand on the other’s hip as he kissed the pale skin. Soon, Naruto’s hand leaves his hip, and he slumps boneless over the bed with the weight of pleasure-drained exhaustion stripping strength from his muscles. After a moment  Naruto’s fingers come back to his neck, and when Sasuke turns his head under the contact, Naruto’s lips brush his cheek.  His breath ghosts warm against the soft skin just under his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> “I love you” Naruto whispers, it sounds gentle, gentler than Sasuke has ever heard him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you too” Sasuke said as he leaned in to connect his lips to his boyfriends  </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WE DID IT YALL, OUR BOYS HAVE A HAPPY ENDING </p><p>THIS WAS A WILD RIDE, BUT WE DID ITTTTTT I HOPE YALL MANAGED MY MESSY ASS </p><p>Honestly guys I don’t even know where to begin with all you guys🥺 THANK YOU SOOOOOO SOOOOO MUCH FOR THE LOVE AND SUPPORT WITH THIS STORY♥️This was the first time I wrote something this long and with this kind of story that kinda followed cannon, and the fact that you guys loved it and joined for the journey really warms my heart bruh 😭💕 You all have no idea how much I loved talking to you guys every single day, yall really are my gang, I can never express that we really have a bond✨ To my bests who commented, kudos, and read I see you and I’m giving every single one of yall a kiss 😘 ONCE AGAIN MY BABES, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY, I HOPED YOU ALL ENJOYED IT AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO FUCKING MUCH💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0051"><h2>51. Chapter 51</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“AHHHHHHH” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“LEE? WHAT IS IT? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Gaara asked in a panic as he ran up to find his husband, making sure he was alright due to the sudden yell  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“GAARA YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE IT” Lee continued to yell </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WHAT?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I HAVE FOUND THE PERFECT WEDDING GIFT FOR NARUTO-KUN AND SASUKE-KUN”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara blinked at the bowl-cut man, he put a hand to his chest and let out a deep breath </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“.....Lee I thought something happened to you” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“SOMETHING DID! FINALLY, WE HAVE AQUIRED A GIFT FOR THE TWO! A GIFT THAT ENCOMPASSES BOTH THE POWER OF YOUTH AND A LITERAL REPRESENTATION OF STRENGTHENING LOVE” Lee said as he gave his husband a thumbs up and sparkling smile </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Kazekage could only let out a breathy chuckle, still trying to calm down his racing heart at the thought of Lee being in trouble “What is it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lee pushed the gift in Gaara’s face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Weights?” Gaara asked, a little confused at the items </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes! I believe it would be perfect for those two to train together and maximize their physique!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure this wouldn’t be a little too...unique?” Gaara said, still a little unsure about Lee’s find  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you have anything in mind my love?” Lee asked taking the weight backs </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well no” Gaara said, ducking his head slightly “I was thinking something that showed our friendship” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Gaara, this</span>
  <em>
    <span> is</span>
  </em>
  <span> something that will show our friendship to Naruto and Sasuke! We are giving them the means to spend time together! We can even train with them if they ask!” Lee smiled again </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gaara only sighed at the bushy-browed man, he couldn’t ignore how much joy Lee had from this gift, he didn’t have much of a choice, it was something that he hoped conveyed their friendship </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright Lee” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“YES! THE POWER OF YOUTH AND LOVE PERCEIVERS ONCE AGAIN” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>**************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is such a drag” Shikamaru muttered, although a sharp pain was suddenly felt on the side of his face</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get rid of that attitude. This is a happy occasion and I refuse to show up with a less than perfect wedding gift” Temari scowled at her lazy husband </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru rubbed his face as he had been slapped, looking at Temari grumpily </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just get Naruto a box of ramen and Sasuke a sword that’s black, I promise you that’s what they would like” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be ridiculous. We have to keep searching for something that they would both love. This is an important occasion! The Hokage and his Partner are getting married for crying out loud!” Temari exclaimed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still can’t believe Naruto actually managed to propose to Sasuke….well after that whole thing where he accidentally dropped the ring in the waterfall where they had their big fight” Shikamaru snickered as he remembered how depressed Naruto was when he messed up his grand proposal to Sasuke and jumped into said waterfall to get the ring, but it was counterbalanced with the fact that Sasuke had actually accepted the proposal </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well we have a wedding now, let’s get back to actually looking for a great wedding gift” Temari said as she turned her attention back to looking around</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru did the same as he looked carefully, but his attention was caught when his wife was calling his name </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you find anything dear?” Shikamaru asked, Temari nodded eagerly as she pulled on his arm to take her to where she had found the perfect gift </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look! It’s a box of that special edition beef ramen Naruto likes and a sword wielded from onyx steel! These are perfect wedding gifts!” Temari said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru only gave his wife a look, he breathed out a laugh and only shook his head “It’s perfect. I wonder how you managed to think of this” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know!” Temari smiled cheekily</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why can you not simply sneak up on either the Hokage or Sasuke and go into their minds to see what they want” Sai said in his monotone voice </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino gasped at her husband, promptly letting go of the display of flowers she had in her arms </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sai you cannot be serious” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are saying you do not know what to give those two, I am giving you an idea on how to find out” Sai answered </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino let out a sigh “Listen darling, I already have my hands full trying to get the flowers ready for this monumental wedding. I don’t need your dry humor when we’re supposed to be coming up with a gift” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought Naruto said that you providing flowers was already too much?” Sai asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We still can’t show up empty-handed!” Ino exclaimed “Maybe a vase? A picture frame? Hm, that could work! A fancy picture frame with the both of them in it….” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Speaking of a picture of both of them, I have a gift” Sai said, cutting off his blonde’s rambling </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino paused her movement, her icy blue eyes meeting Sai’s</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean you have a gift?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sai grabbed Ino’s hand and walked them upstairs to where their apartment was over the flower shop. When Sai took them to his small art room, Ino gasped at the large canvas that was on the easel. It was an absolutely beautiful hand-painted portrait of Naruto and Sasuke, it looked so real it could have easily been mistaken for an enlarged photograph</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sai...this is gorgeous” Ino looked up at him “But how?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I saw how busy you were with the flowers so I didn’t want you to worry about finding a gift. Besides, I also wanted to give a gift that was a token of appreciation for making me realize the importance of emotions” Sai said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ino smiled her Sai “Sai it’s the perfect gift!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sai gave his wife a small smile, glad his work was good enough </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmmmmm” Kiba said as he brought a hand to his chin</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Think of anything?” Hinata asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We could get them a pet, I know Sasuke is quite fond of cats for some reason, even though they suck” Kiba frowned, Akamaru nodded his head </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure a pet, well </span>
  <em>
    <span>cat</span>
  </em>
  <span> is um, the kind of wedding gift we should be looking for” Hinata told her husband shyly </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess not. Well I’m coming up on a blank here” Kiba sighed </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am too” Hinata said as she looked around the store </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Those two are like yin and yang, how are we supposed to find a gift that’s perfect for the both of them!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure we can find something. It has to be both great and meaningful, this wedding is a very important one in the village” Hinata lectured </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘C’mon my wife is the leader of the Hyuuga clan. Can’t your clan give them something super special and expensive” Kiba said, but he yelped out when he was bitten on the hand </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Akamaru growled, Hinata patted the dog’s white fur proudly “Good boy Akamaru” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Traitor” Kiba growled back at his best friend who had chosen his wife over him</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s keep looking dear, we are bound to find the right gift eventually!” Hinata said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three of them searched the stoor, Akamaru sniffed around and stumbled upon something, he barked to call the couple </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it boy?” Kiba said, Hinata not too far behind </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Akamaru pointed his nose to what he found, the couple gasped in delight </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sake and engraved cups!” Hinata said as she picked up the glasses “This is perfect, we can get their names engraved on it! Good job Akamaru!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata and Kiba bombarded the dog with loving pats and scratches for finding the perfect gift </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Any thoughts on a gift for Naruto and Sasuke’s wedding?” TenTen asked </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope” Chouji said as he ate his chips </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“May I suggest an idea?” Shino’s deep voice rang </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other two ninjas nodded at the shaded boy </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about we each pool our currency and provide the perfect Honeymoon for the Hokage and his Partner” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not a bad idea” TenTen said “I’ll pay for the Hot Springs” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll pay for the restaurant so they can have dinner” Chouji said with a mouthful of chips </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I shall provide the Honeymoon Suite” Shino said </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>TenTen gave the two boys fist bumps before she leaned to reclined against Shino and Chouji’s back </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have the perfect gift!” TenTen smiled at the easiness, able to finally relax about this huge event, the two boys nodded happily  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Dear Naruto and Sasuke,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hope this letter finds you well, especially with such a joyous day coming up. I would like to congratulate you two on your wedding day! I know this day will be filled with nothing but blessings, friendship, love, and fun and I couldn’t be any happier. I know you two have spent your entire loves sharing this bond that went beyond rivalry and friendship, this was something that was written in your destinies. Your love has triumphed through thick and thin and your wedding is nothing more than the official act of love to share your feelings for each other, I am nothing more than a prime witness to this love. I am proud of what you all have become. My heart is full that Naruto reached his dream of becoming Hokage, and Sasuke was able to make amends with his past and be Naruto’s partner, protecting each other and the village. As your comrade and friend, I once again send you my congratulations on your wedding and good fortunes on your marriage! May your love forever last! </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Much Love, </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sakura  </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka blew into his handkerchief, tears streaming down his face. Kakashi patted his husbands back with comfort </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just...can’t believe the day is here” Iruka cried </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m sure this is an emotional day” Kakashi said “I still can’t believe those two are actually getting married” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka managed to wipe away at his tears and composed himself “I know, they been through so much their entire lives. Seeing how far those two have come from bitter rivalry to unwavering love, I couldn’t be any happier for them” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi stopped his pants to look at Iruka “You could have fooled me with the way you chased after Sasuke with his own sword when you found out he and Naruto were officially dating” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was so long ago” Iruka waved his husband off </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really? You tried to attack Sasuke by sending my ninjas hounds after him when you found out they were engaged” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Iruka said</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kakashi chuckled, but a smile was kept on his face. His students were to be married. Naruto and Sasuke. The two who had their destinies written since the beginning of time, who had a strong rivalry, who fought by each other’s side, who used each other to grow and get stronger. They had a rough past, heartbreak and pain felt by both of his boys, but the two managed to get to the bitter end and move past it to finally spend the rest of their lives together and in love. Kakashi and Iruka were happy that their students were able to do this ultimate act and declaration of love </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone and everything is ready Lord Sixth” Konohamaru said from outside </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good! Thank you” Iruka and Kakashi called back to the shinobi </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sliding doors finally opened, the older men looked to the two who stood now before them </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Iruka once again burst into tears at the sight, Kakashi’s own eyes began to water with tears of joy at the sight</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto stood tall and proud with his black traditional wedding robes, a huge smile plastered on his face as he practically radiated joy and sunshine. And in his arms was equally happy and strong Sasuke, adorned with white traditional wedding robes, the Uchiha Crest prominent on the front</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My boys…” Kakashi smiled, Iruka continues his happy tears </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s eyes were closed, his posture completely relaxed in the loveseat they were seated on. Sasuke snuggled in closer, running his hand down Naruto’s impressive chest. The robes were slightly coming loose as Sasuke snuck his finger in them, Naruto felt the cool metal of his wedding ring on his tan skin  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Married huh. How’d you do it?” Sasuke teased, his fingers lazily toying the necklace around his husband’s neck. He brought his hand down to touch the warm jewel that lay against Naruto’s heart. It was identical to the one he wore around his neck, the necklaces Sasuke used to ask Naruto to be his boyfriend seemed like ages ago, that through times of doubt and uncertainty had ultimately led them to this day</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was a lot of chasing ya know ” Opening his eyes, Naruto covered Sasuke’s hand with his own and stilled the fingers playing with his necklace “But I always would say it was worth it when it involved the love of my life” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A shiver ran down Sasuke’s spine as he heard those intimate words. He didn’t waste any time with a cheeky reply, instead of pushing himself up on his palms so that he was perfectly aligned with Naruto’s, save for the few inches of space between their gazes</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now you’re really mine” Naruto breathed. Sasuke watched for any sign of hesitation in his husband’s expression but all he saw was love and a healthy dose of lust brewing</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose I am” Sasuke smiled  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pulled Sasuke’s hips down to meet his own and kissed him hard. Sasuke melted against Naruto’s body, ready and willing for whatever his husband had in store. He moaned into another kiss, Naruto’s tongue furiously meeting his stroke for stroke, the heat building between them until Sasuke thought he might burst if he didn’t catch his breath. Naruto’s hands made quick work of Sasuke’s formal wear. While Sasuke, still dazed from the assault on his lips, struggled just to undo his husband’s own robes. It took them a few moments of concerted effort but when they were both stripped down to their underwear, Naruto and Sasuke moved, both a sense of practiced familiarity and rushed novelty. Naruto’s hands roamed all over his husband, from the curve of his neck to his shoulder, down his thigh to where he finally found purchase on his ass</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re so beautiful” Naruto spoke into the quiet between them save for the sounds of their heavy breathing. His hand traced from Sasuke’s temple to the tip of his chin, his heart swelling at the way Sasuke’s lashes fluttered closed at his touch</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto shifted himself, strategically sliding his leg until it was nestled between both of Sasuke’s. Even through the thin fabric of boxer briefs, the impressive bulge was hot on his skin. Sasuke ground himself against Naruto’s muscular thigh, the friction simultaneously giving him the slightest reprieve while the intense way his favorite pair of blue eyes fixated on him made his insides flame even hotter. This man, the one that as of today, officially owned his heart but had held it in his hands for much longer, not only looked but treated him with such reverence and adoration, made him feel like a precious work of art. Wanting his new husband to know just how much he cherished every bit of love between them, Sasuke began to shower every inch of Naruto’s chest with open-mouth kisses. He paid extra attention to Naruto’s collar bone, tracing lines with his tongue and loving the way the wet skin flushed red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto let himself relax into the feeling of Sasuke all over him. His pulse spiked when Sasuke circled his nipples. Another moan left him when Sasuke  teased them with his teeth</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Always so good Sas’” Naruto said, nerves tingling from his husband’s exploration. Sasuke hummed, nipple still between his lips </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto pushed himself up on his elbows, bringing his upper body flush with Sasuke’s.  His husband nestled into him, straddling his hips. Naruto nipped at Sasuke’s bottom lip watching the flesh plump up before finally taking it in his mouth and giving it a nice hard suck. The weight of his husband on his lap felt almost too good to give up but he knew what awaited them both in the bedroom would be even better. A shriek of surprise and delight escaped Sasuke as Naruto shifted again, wrapping an arm around Sasuke’s waist and the other hand on his ass as he stood. Sasuke quickly hooked his legs around Naruto’s hips, heels digging into the firm flesh of his ass as he walked</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How romantic of you to carry me” Sasuke teased “Always such a gentleman”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anything for you my love” Naruto replied, his voice husky</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The plush duvet on the suite bed </span>
  <em>
    <span>(they had to remember to thank TenTen, Shino, and Chouji for their honeymoon)</span>
  </em>
  <span> met his back and Sasuke reached up to pull Naruto down for another kiss, not yet having had his fill. His husband’s words only serving to ramp up the anticipation tenfold. Naruto indulged him, plunging his tongue deep inside Sasuke’s mouth, as if to add to his warning, to tease what he had in store. Nimble hands quickly rid both men of their underwear and Sasuke’s cock was already hard and swollen against his belly. Naruto’s bright blue eyes were full of such hunger and lust, that they made Sasuke’s cock twitch without a single touch. Within seconds, Naruto had both his fist and his lips wrapped around Sasuke </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s back arched off the bed “</span>
  <em>
    <span>F-Fuck….</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he cursed as his husband circled his tip before taking him deep. He moaned but was cut off as Naruto pumped his cock in his fist. Naruto’s tongue lapped at Sasuke’s cock, his hand gliding up his torso before reaching to thread his fingers with his husband’s. He gave their joined hands a firm squeeze, voicing his love without words. He continued to work Sasuke over, his husband’s hands gripping the bed covers tightly while Naruto sucked his cock to within an inch of both their lives</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Naruto...ahhh ahhhh”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke moaned while squirming on the mattress, knowing that if Naruto kept this up any longer he wouldn’t be able to hold back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At Sasuke’s moans, Naruto relented. His lips red and swollen from the way they’d stretched around his husband’s cock, glancing at the way Sasuke’s expression was still scrunched in pleasurable pain. He assaulted Sasuke’s gaped mouth with a tantalizing kiss that stole both of their breaths</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, you’re always such a tease” Sasuke panted unable to even finish his thought</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m taking my time tonight” Naruto laughed lightly before giving Sasuke’s mouth another wicked lick. Sasuke quirked a skeptical brow at his husband that had a rumble of laughter coming from Naruto </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is our wedding night after all” Naruto added </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke caved and gave out a small laugh of his own “You’re lucky I love you so much” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s heart swelled in his chest at Sasuke’s words, he’d never felt so wanted in his entire life. They’d been through so many ups and downs over the years. The realization that all the hardship and sacrifice had been more than worth it, to have this man share not only his bed but to hold his hand through the next phase of their lives was almost too much to think about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto swallowed the emotion bubbling in his throat, wondering how he ever got so goddamn lucky. Naruto moved to turn Sasuke over, admiring the firm globe of Sasuke’s ass as he gave them a squeeze. Naruto kissed his way down from Sasuke’s ass to this thighs, each touch of his lips making Sasuke all the more hungry for the touch where he wanted it most. Naruto finally brought his hands up to spread Sasuke’s cheeks. His warm breath wafting delicately over his hole. A shiver ran up Sasuke’s spine, further proving his husband’s point. Naruto quickly grabbing the bottle of lube that was available to them by the suite and poured it on his hand. With practiced ease and lube-slicked fingers, he began to work Sasuke open. He was able to quickly work his way up to two fingers, adding in long licks and soft sucks along Sasuke’s most sensitive skin. He’d been intending to work Sasuke up nice and slow, but his love was already begging for it. Sasuke could feel his muscles already starting to tense when Naruto leaned over him just to whisper in his ear how good he tasted. It was almost too much, fingers buried in his ass and the weight of Naruto’s hot body covering him. Naruto reached to fondle Sasuke’s balls before adding a third finger to the mix to make sure Sasuke was nice and loose for his cock. With a slight bend to his fingers, he sends a burst of pleasure with each pass over Sasuke’s prostate. Naruto’s own erection was hard and hot against him, the head already dripping with excitement from the arousing combination of his husband’s moans and taste. He squirted more lube into his hand to coat his cock</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Running his length along Sasuke’s perfect ass, Naruto asked softly “You ready my love?” as he had one hand resting at the base of Sasuke’s spine while the other gently held the base of his slick cock</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah...”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke managed to say, his voice thick with heat. Simultaneous grunts filled the room when Naruto pushed slowly inside. Cautious of how easy it would be for the moment to end prematurely, they each took time to adjust to just how full and tight the feeling was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto started to move and each time he filled Sasuke back up, Sasuke let out the most sensual whimper. The pace began to quicken but it wasn’t enough, Sasuke wanted more. He wanted Naruto to completely consume him and from this angle, it just wasn’t possible</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Naruto retreated once more, Sasuke looked over his shoulder and made his request, face going even more red than it was now </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Naruto….let me ride you”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto met his eyes and gruffly replied through the fog of pleasure coursing through him “Of course”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With Sasuke nestling himself against his thick legs, Naruto firmly planted one hand on Sasuke’s hip while the other hand positioned his cock into his husband's perfectly stretched hole. With Sasuke’s back flushed with his broad chest, Naruto nestled his head into the crook between his husband's neck and shoulders. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s waist and hips, keeping him firmly in place. Naruto wanted to savor this moment, coming together for the first time with each other’s rings on their fingers, promises of love now and forever made in front of everyone they loved. He rocked his hips ever-so-gently, loving the way Sasuke’s body gripped him as if they were a perfect match. Made for one another</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ahh...yes”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke gasped at the sweet intrusion. His words turned into groans of pleasure that shot straight to Naruto’s cock and had him moving quicker and Sasuke all but bouncing on him. Sasuke threaded a hand in Naruto’s hair so he could pull him easily in for more kisses</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck Sasuke, you feel so good” Naruto purred in Sasuke’s ear. But Sasuke couldn’t answer, too overwhelmed with how full he felt, the spark of pleasure he felt each time his husband’s cock moved in and out of him. Sasuke reached down, giving his dripping cock a desperate squeeze, fixated on his body’s need to come</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t” Sasuke let out in a string of open-mouthed pants, barely able to keep his head up</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can’t what Sas’?” Naruto asked, watching as Sasuke’s eyes drooped</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It feels... it feels too fucking good”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke moaned</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It feels fucking perfect”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke was drunk off the fullness of Naruto’s cock fucking him, his body going completely limp. Naruto pulled both of them down towards the bed, Sasuke’s face buried once again in one of the plush pillows while his husband’s hips continued to roll deep and torturously slow in his ass. Moans and garbled cries were the only sounds Sasuke could manage to make.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ahhhhh</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sasuke let out in a tortured groan, the new angle in combination with Naruto’s warm skin pressed against his back feeling too good, but still not enough “Deeper Naruto”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto reached an arm across his husband’s collarbone, giving himself just a touch more leverage and Sasuke’s hand came up to anchor himself, scared that he might float away. Naruto’s heavy pants and grunts of exertion aligned perfectly in Sasuke’s ear</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like that?” Naruto asked with another thrust of his hips, his cock rubbing glorious over Sasuke’s sweet spot</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The clench of his husband’s ass around him along with the high-pitched whimper of distress that met his ears, had Naruto’s orgasm quickly taking him by surprise </span>
  <em>
    <span>“F-Fuck”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he growled as his body flashed hot, suddenly filling Sasuke to the brim. Naruto let out a heavy exhale trying his best to recover. He marveled, sincerely impressed that Sasuke was still managing to fend off his climax, but he also knew from the needy cries and the way he writhed, that Sasuke was just about at his wit’s end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I can’t…..I-I can’t….”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sasuke cried shamelessly, every nerve in his body on fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hot and full of his husband’s come in his ass, Sasuke was beyond rational thought, the quest for instant relief his only focus as he frustratingly rutted his hips into the duvet until Naruto’s next words pulled him back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come for me Sasuke”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s head whipped around at the request, not sure he’d heard correctly. But he wasn’t going to waste any time waiting for an explanation when he’d just been given the permission he needed to finally let go. Both men shifted their positions, Naruto sprawled out on his back and an orgasm-starved Sasuke straddled his hips. Sasuke jerked himself in rough, hard pulls that squeezed so tightly that he could almost see the stars he chased. The thought of showering Naruto in his orgasm, marking his new husband with his release just as he had with his ring was enough to finally push him over the edge. Naruto watched the way Sasuke’s face was flushed red and his miscolored eyes full of lust</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Holding his husband steady, Naruto fixated on the pearly white spurts of hot cum that scattered across his sweat-glistened chest. Sasuke’s head thrown back as his climax swept intensely through his body and Naruto could’ve sworn it was one of the hottest sights he’d ever seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke’s hand dropped from his overstimulated cock, his chest rising and falling in time with harsh pants as he attempted to restore the rightful amount of oxygen to his lungs</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto tugged on Sasuke’s hand and brought them chest to chest, unbothered by his husband’s release sticky between them. Feeling sufficiently spent and looking thoroughly debauched, the newlyweds barely managed to pull up the covers before they collapsed in exhaustion. Sasuke threw an arm over his husband’s waist and Naruto reciprocated, holding him close with a comforting palm on his back</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naruto placed a kiss on Sasuke’s head “I love you Sasuke” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you Naruto” </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yall thought it was over huh, SIKE </p><p>In case yall new to the gang, its tradition that I pop out with a surprise final future chapter 🤪✨</p><p>OUR BOYS MARRIED 🥺🤚🏻💕</p><p>BUT ALSO IN THESE SURPRISE CHAPTERS I ALWAYS BE GIVING MY GANG THE EXCLUSIVE NEWSSSS🤝 You knowww my dumbass is never gone for too long and I always be having these stories for yall 😉 SO LET ME GIVE YALL THE TEA ON MY NEXT STORYYYYYYY: </p><p>My next story is gonna be a modern/sports au (might even say Olympics au😶) where our boys are sports rivals but that’s gonna change, a little enemies to lovers and secret relationships type beat 👀</p><p>But I can’t spill too much, you know how things are with me😋 </p><p>ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH, I LOVE YOU ALL, IMMA REST AND I WILL SEE YOU BABES SOON WITH ANOTHER STORY 💗💗💗💗</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ooooof- yeah I started out with angst. 😘 Comment &amp; Kudos Muah &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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